title: Welfare States, Labor Markets, Political Dynamics, and Population Health: A Time-Series Cross-Sectional Analysis Among East and Southeast Asian Nations.
abstract: Recent scholarship offers different theories on how macrosocial determinants affect the population health of East and Southeast Asian nations. Dominant theories emphasize the effects of welfare regimes, welfare generosity, and labor market institutions. In this article, we conduct exploratory time-series cross-sectional analyses to generate new evidence on these theories while advancing a political explanation. Using unbalanced data of 7 East Asian countries and 11 Southeast Asian nations from 1960 to 2012, primary findings are 3-fold. First, welfare generosity measured as education and health spending has a positive impact on life expectancy, net of GDP. Second, life expectancy varies significantly by labor markets; however, these differences are explained by differences in welfare generosity. Third, as East and Southeast Asian countries become more democratic, welfare generosity increases, and population health improves. This study provides new evidence on the value of considering politics, welfare states, and labor markets within the same conceptual framework.
authors: School of Social Work, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Edwin
authors: E
authors: Ng
authors: Bloomberg School of Nursing and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada School of Health Policy & Management, College of Health Science, and Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea carles.muntaner@utoronto.ca.
authors: Carles
authors: C
authors: Muntaner
authors: School of Health Policy & Management, College of Health Science, and Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors: Haejoo
authors: H
authors: Chung
mesh_terms: D001210:Asia, Southeastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005202:Asia, Eastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000639:trends*; D011057:Politics; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D066269:Social Theory; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: East Asia; Southeast Asia; labor markets; political regimes; population health; time-series cross-sectional analysis; welfare generosity; welfare regimes