The More You Get –The More You Give: The Correlation between Organ Donation and Public Social Expenses.
Abstract
Due to the constant shortage of organs but to an increase in need, many researchers from different countries have tried to estimate the various variables that can predict an individual's willingness to donate. The purpose of the study is to examine whether there is a correlation between the willingness to donate an organ or blood, and the degree of the society's investment in the welfare and health of its members in the OECD countries. . Positive correlation was shown between a gap in the Gini index and expenditure on health and willingness to donate organs from the deceased. A similar ratio shows that the greater the gap in the Gini index, i.e. the state imposes a higher level of progressive tax, so the willingness to donate organs from the deceased increases and vice versa. Two other significant but negative correlations were found between the Gini index after tax and the willingness to donate organs from the deceased and between the expenditure from the pocket for health and the willingness to donate organs from the deceased. Since all countries are constantly looking for ways to increase the number of organ donors for transplants, both in legislation and in other ways, this study shows that it is also possible to assist in this lofty goal through economic policy. In our opinion, in the budgetary considerations of the distribution of resources among the different sectors of the population, decision-makers and opinion makers in the economy should take into account that narrowing economic gaps can also lead to narrowing the gaps between supply and demand regarding organ donation, thereby increasing the welfare and the health of the country's residents.
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