title: Modeling the effects of health on economic growth.
abstract: This paper investigates the effects of health indicators such as adult survival rates (ASR) on GDP growth rates at 5-year intervals in several countries. Panel data were analyzed on GDP series based on purchasing power adjustments and on exchange rates. First, we developed a framework for modeling the inter-relationships between GDP growth rates and explanatory variables by re-examining the life expectancy-income relationship. Second, models for growth rates were estimated taking into account the interaction between ASR and lagged GDP level; issues of endogeneity and reverse causality were addressed. Lastly, we computed confidence intervals for the effect of ASR on growth rate and applied a test for parameter stability. The results showed positive effects of ASR on GDP growth rates in low-income countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5882, USA. bhargava@uh.edu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhargava
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Jamison
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Murray
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015984:Causality; D019049:Developed Countries / Q000191:economics*; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000191:economics*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006803:Human Development; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007449:Investments; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008875:Middle Aged; D017059:Models, Econometric; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis