Macroeconomists acknowledge the contributions of health improvements to economic growth, but controversy exists in the findings of recent research on the topic. This paper attempts to empirically investigate the relationship between health improvements and economic growth by exploiting and expanding upon previous research practices and results. I obtain cross-country estimates of life expectancy, my proxy for health. I employ fixed effects estimation to research the effect of health improvements across time and space. My results indicate an increase in life expectancy by one percentage point increases GDP per capita by 1.34 percentage points. I document a larger effect on total GDP; an increase in life expectancy by one percentage point increases total GDP by 3.87 percentage points. My research suggests that there is a positive and strong correlation between life expectancy and economic growth.
","abstract_html":"<p>Macroeconomists acknowledge the contributions of health improvements to economic growth, but controversy exists in the findings of recent research on the topic. This paper attempts to empirically investigate the relationship between health improvements and economic growth by exploiting and expanding upon previous research practices and results. I obtain cross-country estimates of life expectancy, my proxy for health. I employ fixed effects estimation to research the effect of health improvements across time and space. My results indicate an increase in life expectancy by one percentage point increases GDP per capita by 1.34 percentage points. I document a larger effect on total GDP; an increase in life expectancy by one percentage point increases total GDP by 3.87 percentage points. My research suggests that there is a positive and strong correlation between life expectancy and economic growth.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Spraley, Jeannette"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Campus Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Moore School of Business","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["John McDermott","Janice Breuer"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:37:21Z","subjects":["Economics","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":["© 2010, Jeannette Spraley"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/926","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["John McDermott","Janice Breuer"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Spraley, Jeannette"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Moore School of Business"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Campus Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Economics","Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© 2010, Jeannette Spraley"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/926"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Macroeconomists acknowledge the contributions of health improvements to economic growth, but controversy exists in the findings of recent research on the topic. This paper attempts to empirically investigate the relationship between health improvements and economic growth by exploiting and expanding upon previous research practices and results. I obtain cross-country estimates of life expectancy, my proxy for health. I employ fixed effects estimation to research the effect of health improvements across time and space. My results indicate an increase in life expectancy by one percentage point increases GDP per capita by 1.34 percentage points. I document a larger effect on total GDP; an increase in life expectancy by one percentage point increases total GDP by 3.87 percentage points. My research suggests that there is a positive and strong correlation between life expectancy and economic growth.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Effect of Life Expectancy On Economic Growth: Across Time and Space"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["John McDermott","Janice Breuer"],"dc:creator":["Spraley, Jeannette"],"dc:description.abstract":["Macroeconomists acknowledge the contributions of health improvements to economic growth, but controversy exists in the findings of recent research on the topic. This paper attempts to empirically investigate the relationship between health improvements and economic growth by exploiting and expanding upon previous research practices and results. I obtain cross-country estimates of life expectancy, my proxy for health. I employ fixed effects estimation to research the effect of health improvements across time and space. My results indicate an increase in life expectancy by one percentage point increases GDP per capita by 1.34 percentage points. I document a larger effect on total GDP; an increase in life expectancy by one percentage point increases total GDP by 3.87 percentage points. My research suggests that there is a positive and strong correlation between life expectancy and economic growth.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/926"],"dc:rights":["© 2010, Jeannette Spraley"],"dc:subject":["Economics","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["The Effect of Life Expectancy On Economic Growth: Across Time and Space"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Moore School of Business"],"thesis:degree_level":["Campus Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:37:21Z"}