The Effect of Life Expectancy On Economic Growth: Across Time and Space

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Campus Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Moore School of Business

Year

2010

Author dc:creator

• Spraley, Jeannette

Contributors dc:contributor

• John McDermott
• Janice Breuer

• Economics
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• © 2010, Jeannette Spraley

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/926

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarcommons.sc.edu:etd-1927