Health Investments and Economic Growth : Macroeconomic Evidence and Microeconomic Foundations

This paper reviews the correlations and potential links between health and economic growth and summarizes the evidence on the role of government in improving health status. At the macroeconomic level, the evidence of an impact of health on growth remains ambiguous due both to difficulties in measuring health, and to the methodological challenges of identifying causal links. The evidence on the micro linkages from health investments to productivity and income are robust. Progress in life expectancy over the past two centuries has been spectacular, fueled by: improved agriculture that has increased food quantity; knowledge of disease transmission, and effective public health interventions that have controlled communicable diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and hookworm; and, most recently and importantly, investments in very young children that pay off in healthier and more productive adults. Whether public investments in medical care affect health hinges on the quality of health institutions. In much of the developing world, factors such as chronic absenteeism among public providers, poor budget execution, ineffective management, and virtually no accountability weaken public efforts. Institutional issues are central in efforts to enhance public health investments, which in turn have a direct impact on the population's welfare and, perhaps over the long term, improvements in national income.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Jack, William, Lewis, Maureen
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	2009-03-01
Subjects:	ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE, ADULT LITERACY, ADULT MORTALITY, ADULT MORTALITY RATE, ADVERSE SELECTION, AGGREGATE INCOME, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, BASIC SANITATION, BLINDNESS, CANCER, CAPITAL INVESTMENTS, CHILD MORTALITY, CHILD MORTALITY RATES, CITIES, CITIZENS, CIVIL WAR, CLEAN WATER, CLINICS, COHORT STUDIES, COMMUNICABLE DISEASES, COST-EFFECTIVENESS, CYCLE OF POVERTY, DEATHS, DECISION MAKING, DECLINES IN MORTALITY, DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE, DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES, DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEWORMING, DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN, DISSEMINATION, DOCTORS, DRINKING WATER, DRUGS, EARLY CHILDHOOD, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS, ECONOMIC OUTCOMES, ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EFFECTIVE POLICIES, ELDERLY, EPIDEMIC, EPIDEMICS, EPIDEMIOLOGY, EQUILIBRIUM, EXPENDITURES, EXTENDED FAMILIES, FEMALE EDUCATION, FOOD PRODUCTION, FOOD SUPPLEMENTS, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, GOOD GOVERNANCE, GREEN REVOLUTION, GROWTH RATE OF POPULATION, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH CARE COSTS, HEALTH CARE DELIVERY, HEALTH CARE SERVICES, HEALTH CARE SPENDING, HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS, HEALTH CONDITIONS, HEALTH CONSEQUENCES, HEALTH INDICATORS, HEALTH INSTITUTIONS, HEALTH INTERVENTIONS, HEALTH INVESTMENTS, HEALTH ORGANIZATION, HEALTH OUTCOMES, HEALTH POLICIES, HEALTH POLICY, HEALTH PROBLEMS, HEALTH PROFESSIONS, HEALTH SECTOR, HEALTH SERVICE, HEALTH SERVICES, HEALTH STATUS, HEALTH WORKERS, HIGH DEATH RATES, HIV, HIV/AIDS, HOSPITAL, HOSPITAL AUTONOMY, HOSPITALS, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSEHOLD WORK, HUMAN ACTIVITY, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HYGIENE, ILL HEALTH, ILLNESSES, IMMUNIZATIONS, IMPACT ON HEALTH, IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION, INCOME, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME EFFECTS, INCOME GROUPS, INCOME GROWTH, INDIVIDUAL HEALTH, INFANT, INFANT MORTALITY, INFANT MORTALITY RATE, INFANTS, INFECTION RATES, INFECTIOUS DISEASES, INSURANCE, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, INTERVENTION, INVESTMENT IN CHILDREN, INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION, IODINE DEFICIENCY, IRON, JOB TRAINING, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKET, LABOR SUPPLY, LAND PRODUCTIVITY, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LIFE EXPECTANCY, LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH, LITERACY RATES, LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES, LOWER FERTILITY, MALARIA, MALNOURISHED CHILDREN, MARGINAL COST, MARGINAL COSTS, MARKET FAILURES, MEDICAID, MEDICAL CARE, MEDICAL FACILITIES, MEDICAL PERSONNEL, MEDICAL PROCEDURES, MEDICAL SERVICES, MEDICAL SUPPLIES, MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES, MEDICAL TREATMENT, MEDICAL TREATMENTS, MENTAL HEALTH, MENTAL ILLNESS, MORBIDITY, MORTALITY, MORTALITY DECLINES, MORTALITY LEVELS, MORTALITY REDUCTIONS, MOTHER, NATIONAL HEALTH, NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, NATURE OF HEALTH, NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, NUMBER OF CHILDREN, NUTRITION, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, ONCHOCERCIASIS CONTROL, ONCHOCERCIASIS CONTROL PROGRAM, ORAL REHYDRATION THERAPY, ORPHANS, PARENTING, PATIENT, PATIENTS, PHYSICIAN, PHYSICIANS, POLICY GUIDANCE, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POOR HEALTH, POPULATION CHANGES, POPULATION SIZE, PRACTITIONERS, PREGNANT WOMEN, PREMATURE DEATH, PRENATAL CARE, PRIMARY HEALTH SERVICES, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PROBABILITY, PROGRESS, PROVIDER PAYMENT, PSYCHOLOGY, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH CARE, PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SERVICES, PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS, PUBLIC HEALTH SPENDING, PUBLIC HOSPITALS, PUBLIC POLICIES, PUBLIC POLICY, PUBLIC PROVIDERS, PUBLIC SPENDING, QUALITY OF HEALTH, QUALITY OF LIFE, QUARANTINE, RESEARCH CENTERS, RICHER COUNTRIES, RICHER PEOPLE, RISK FACTORS, SAFETY NET, SANITATION, SCARCE RESOURCES, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN, SERVICE DELIVERY, SIBLINGS, SKILL DEVELOPMENT, SMOKING, SOCIAL NETWORKS, SOCIAL RETURNS, SURGERY, SURVIVAL RATE, UNDER-FIVE MORTALITY, UNEMPLOYMENT, URBANIZATION, VACCINES, WORKERS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, YOUNG CHILDREN,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090325162956 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4072
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