Edward N. Okeke

Senior Economist; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Washington Office

Education

Ph.D. in health policy (economics), University of Michigan; M.A. in applied economics, University of Michigan; M.P.H., University of Michigan; M.D., Nnamdi Azikiwe University

One Page Bio

Overview

Edward Okeke is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He is an applied microeconomist and a physician with training in public health. His research lies at the intersection of health and development. Specific areas of interest include the returns to health care in the formal sector, adoption of preventive health technologies, investments in health and human capital, and maternal and infant health. Much of Okeke's work is in sub-Saharan Africa, but he also works in South Asia and Latin America.

Okeke's work has received support from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Cancer Institute, the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), and the Russell Sage Foundation, amongst others. He has served as the principal investigator on numerous studies and is currently leading two large multi-site RCTs in Nigeria funded by the NIH. Prior to joining RAND, he was an assistant professor of health economics and policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Okeke holds an M.B.B.S. (M.D.) from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, an M.A. in applied economics, a Master's in public health, and a Ph.D. in health policy (economics) from the University of Michigan.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Okeke, Edward N., "Playing Defense? Health Care in the Era of Covid," Journal of Health Economics, 102665, 2022

Okeke, Edward N., "Working Hard or Hardly Working: Health Worker Effort and Health Outcomes. ," Economic Development and Cultural Change, 70(1), 2021

Okeke, Edward N., Zachary Wagner, and Isa Abubakar, "Maternal Cash Transfers led to Increases in Facility Deliveries and Improved Quality of Delivery Care in Nigeria," Health Affairs, 39(6), 2020

Okeke, Edward N., and Isa Abubakar, "Healthcare at the Beginning of Life and Child Survival: Evidence from a Cash Transfer Experiment in Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, 143(102426), 2020

Chari, A.V., Peter Glick, Edward N. Okeke, and Sinduja Srinivasan, "Does Workfare Worsen Infant Health? Evidence from India’s Public Works Program," Journal of Development Economics , 138, 2019

Okeke, Edward N., and A.V. Chari, "Health Care at Birth and Infant Mortality: Evidence from Nighttime Deliveries in Nigeria," Social Science and Medicine , 196, 2018

Godlonton, Susan and Edward N. Okeke, "Does a Ban on Informal Health Providers Save Lives? Evidence from Malawi," Journal of Development Economics, 118, 2016

Publications

Journal Article
Playing Defense? Health Care in the Era of Covid
This paper presents evidence that the quality of health care interactions changed in important ways during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jul 28, 2022
Journal Article
Money and My Mind: Maternal Cash Transfers and Mental Health
This paper documents important mental health spillovers in the context of a program that offered pregnant women modest cash incentives to use pre- and perinatal health care services.
Nov 10, 2021
Journal Article
Working Hard or Hardly Working: Health Worker Effort and Health Outcomes
Effort by health workers in developing countries has been the subject of recent attention, but the implications for health outcomes have remained a matter of conjecture. This paper provides new evidence about the returns to health worker effort.
Nov 10, 2021
Journal Article
In Nigeria, Stillbirths And Newborn Deaths Increased During The COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 increased the number of stillbirths and newborn deaths in Nigeria.
Nov 3, 2021
Draft
When a Doctor Falls from the Sky: The Impact of Easing Doctor Supply Constraints on Mortality
Describes the results of a unique policy experiment conducted in partnership with the Nigerian government that randomly assigned doctors to communities.
Jun 10, 2021
Research Brief
Reducing Child Deaths in Nigeria Through Contingent Cash Transfers to Expectant Mothers
A contingent cash transfer program in Nigeria—in which expectant mothers were given $14 if they used prenatal, delivery, and postnatal services—led to a large increase in the use of such care and a substantial reduction in child deaths.
Jun 22, 2020
Journal Article
Maternal Cash Transfers Led To Increases In Facility Deliveries And Improved Quality Of Delivery Care In Nigeria
A randomized controlled trial in Nigeria evaluated an intervention that paid pregnant women to deliver in a health facility, which led to a 41% increase in facility deliveries. We found improvements in the quality of delivery care and in satisfaction with care.
Jun 4, 2020
Journal Article
Healthcare at the Beginning of Life and Child Survival: Evidence from a Cash Transfer Experiment in Nigeria
We study the effects of a cash transfer program in Nigeria in which households were offered a payment of $14 conditioned on uptake of health services.
Mar 1, 2020
Journal Article
Workfare and Infant Health: Evidence From India's Public Works Program
India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which prioritizes female participation, increased newborn mortality among women eligible to participate. Work-related stresses adversely affect fetal health; however maternal work participation may have positive income effects for older children.
Jan 29, 2019
Report
Medical Care Provided to California's Injured Workers: Monitoring System Performance Using Administrative Data
This report provides a framework for understanding changes in medical spending levels and provides the results from RAND's analysis of Workers' Compensation Information System data for 2007--2012.
May 16, 2018
Journal Article
Health Care at Birth and Infant Mortality: Evidence from Nighttime Deliveries in Nigeria
Ensuring that Nigerian women giving birth have access to health facilities will likely reduce infant mortality.
2018
Journal Article
Going to Scale: Design and Implementation Challenges of a Program to Increase Access to Skilled Birth Attendants in Nigeria
A program to increase the number of skilled birth attendants in Nigeria was hampered by design, implementation and operational challenges.
Dec 1, 2017
Journal Article
Does Price Affect the Demand for Information About New Health Technologies? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Nigeria
We study how pricing subsidies influence the demand for information about a new preventative health technology.
Feb 19, 2016
Journal Article
The Effect of Increasing the Supply of Skilled Health Providers on Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes: Evidence from the Midwives Service Scheme in Nigeria
This study highlights the complexity of improving maternal and child health outcomes in developing countries, and shows that scaling up supply of midwives may not be sufficient on its own.
2016
Journal Article
Persistent Barriers to Care: A Qualitative Study to Understand Women's Experiences in Areas Served by the Midwives Service Scheme in Nigeria
The Nigerian Midwives Service Scheme (MSS) is an ambitious human resources project created in 2009 to address supply side barriers to accessing care.
2016
Journal Article
Does a Ban on Informal Health Providers Save Lives? Evidence from Malawi
This study examines the effect of a ban on informal (traditional) birth attendants imposed by the Malawi government in 2007.
Nov 11, 2015
Research Brief
The Better Obstetrics in Rural Nigeria (BORN) Study: Evaluating the Nigerian Midwives Service Scheme
Describes an evaluation of the impact of the Midwives Service Scheme, a government program introduced in 2009, which is intended to increase women's access to skilled care in rural underserved areas of Nigeria.
Sep 15, 2015
Report
The Better Obstetrics in Rural Nigeria (BORN) Study: An Impact Evaluation of the Nigerian Midwives Service Scheme
Evaluates the impact of the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS), a government program introduced in 2009 to increase access to skilled care in rural underserved areas of Nigeria.
Sep 15, 2015
Draft
Does a Ban on Informal Health Providers Save Lives? Evidence from Malawi
Studies the effect of a ban on informal (traditional) birth attendants imposed by the Malawi government.
Aug 18, 2015
Draft
Can Institutional Deliveries Reduce Newborn Mortality? Evidence from Rwanda
Explores if policies promoting institutional deliveries in developing countries can actually reduce newborn deaths.
Feb 13, 2015
Report
Development of a Model for the Validation of Work Relative Value Units for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) uses the resource-based relative value scale to pay physicians and other practitioners for services. CMS asked RAND to develop a model to validate physician work values using external data sources.
Jan 16, 2015
Research Brief
RAND Modeling Offers Support for Transparent and Consistent CMS Physician Fee Schedules
The current process used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for valuing physician work is based on physician survey responses. RAND researchers examined the feasibility of developing a model based instead on external data sources.
Jan 16, 2015
Journal Article
Doing Wrong to Do Right? Social Preferences and Dishonest Behavior
Can pro-social preferences lead to dishonest or unethical behavior? Lab evidence suggests that it can. In this paper, we document some of the first field evidence of this phenomenon.
Oct 1, 2014
Report
Implementing a Resource-Based Relative Value Scale Fee Schedule for Physician Services: An Assessment of Policy Options for the California Workers' Compensation Program
RAND researchers used 2011 medical data to examine the impact of implementing a resource-based relative value scale to pay for physician services under the California workers' compensation system. This report details their findings.
Apr 28, 2014
Draft
Fee Schedule Options for Services Furnished by Hospitals to Outpatients under the California Workers' Compensation Program
This report presents an analyses of the policy options regarding allowable amounts for certain facility services provided by hospitals on an outpatient basis under California's workers' compensation system.
Feb 7, 2014
Journal Article
Do Higher Salaries Lower Physician Migrations?
In this paper, we provide some of the first estimates of the impact of raising health workers salaries on migration.
2014
Journal Article
Brain Drain: Do Economic Conditions "Push" Doctors Out of Developing Countries?
Health worker migration is an issue of first order concern in global health policy circles and continues to be the subject of much policy debate. In this paper, we contribute to the discussion by studying the impact of economic conditions on the migration of physicians from developing countries.
Dec 1, 2013
Journal Article
AIDS Treatment and Mental Health: Evidence from Uganda
Increased access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in developing countries over the last decade is believed to have contributed to reductions in HIV transmission and improvements in life expectancy.
Sep 1, 2013
Report
CMS Innovation Center Health Care Innovation Awards: Evaluation Plan
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has funded 108 projects implementing new service delivery or payment models intended to deliver lower cost through improving quality of care. This report describes a strategy for evaluating the results.
Aug 15, 2013
Report
The Evolving Role of Emergency Departments in the United States
This report evaluates the evolving role of hospital emergency departments (EDs) in the U.S. health care system. EDs are being increasingly used for complex workups and ED doctors are the principal decisionmakers for half of all hospital admissions.
May 20, 2013
Research Brief
The Evolving Roles of Emergency Departments
This brief summarizes a RAND analysis of the role of that hospital emergency departments may come to play in either contributing to or reducing the rising costs of health care.
May 20, 2013
Journal Article
The Price Sensitivity of Medicare Beneficiaries: A Regression Discontinuity Approach
We use 4 years of data from the retiree health benefits program of the University of Michigan to estimate the effect of price on the health plan choices of Medicare beneficiaries.
2013
Journal Article
What Is the Price of Prevention? New Evidence from a Field Experiment
Policies to increase preventive testing in developing countries should include subsidies towards treatment costs.
2013
Report
Evaluating the Impact of Prevention and Early Intervention Activities on the Mental Health of California’s Population
This report describes a collection of frameworks for evaluating prevention and early intervention funding for mental health services for the California population.
Oct 9, 2012
Journal Article
Workers on the Margin: Who Drops Health Coverage When Prices Rise?
We revisit the question of price elasticity of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) take-up by directly examining changes in the take-up of ESI at a large firm in response to exogenous changes in employee premium contributions.
2010
Journal Article
Too Cold for a Jog? Weather, Exercise, and Socioeconomic Status
This study examines how exercise responds to plausibly exogenous price shocks, in the form of weather conditions.
Jun 1, 2009
Journal Article
Insurers' Competitive Strategy and Enrollment in Newly Offered Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs)
While early growth in preferred provider organizations (PPOs) coincided with growth of managed care generally, recent expansion has come primarily at the expense of other managed care plans.
Dec 1, 2007