A Closer Look into the Inter-relation between Health and Economic Growth

張可

Abstract

Pithy captions such like “Wealthier is healthier” and “Healthy bodies and thick wallets” are invoked by some economists to explain the inter-relationship between the level of health and economic growth. This applies on a societal level as well. The question this paper attempts to look into what exactly is the inter-relationship between the level of health and the economic growth of a society.

The Health Effect on Economic Growth

“Healthier workers with good nutrition are more productive.” suggested the economic historian Robert Fogel. When countries are in the early stages of development， access to food， clean water， and sanitation has a huge effect on productivity. As nutrition improved， so did the workers productivity. Taking urban Brazil as an example， urban men with less access to nutrition are less likely to participate in the labor force （Strauss， John and Duncan 1998）.

The presence or absence of communicable diseases is also an indicator of health level in the society. Also， communicable diseases have an “external cost” ? infected individuals affect the health and therefore productivity of others. The data on HIV prevalence and GDP in Sub-Saharan Africa also provides another illustration of the effect of health on economic growth. Although there are many factors behind HIV prevalence， lack of resources is undoubtedly a major determinant. Hence， not only do health levels affect GDP， but economic growth also influences?health.

The Economic Growth Effect on Health

On the other hand， health performance is strongly dependent on the economy. With the increase of national income in South Africa， the spending in the health system and the implementation of policies has improved significantly?as well.For example， the recent implementation of HIV policy in South Africa， which prevents the transmission of HIV from mother to child， also has an impact on infant mortality. The reduced fertility rate allows parents to concentrate on fewer children and thus the children would obtain more resourcesof nutrition， achieve a good health and have better cognitive development. Lower fertility also means that population growth is slowed so advances in GDP are not swamped.

Other Factors

Currently， there is not necessarily a perfect correlation between GDP and health. There are developing countries with high GDP and low life expectancy， such as Kazakhstan. The relationship between national income and life expectancy becomes less significant once GDP or health reaches a certain level. It could be well illustrated in the Preston Curve. When life expectancy is low， small increases in GDP per capita have a big impact. Once life expectancy reaches 70 or more years， the marginal effect of economic growth on life expectancy becomes small. The major factors affecting life expectancy are non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer， and advances in medical equipment and research for new medicines. Surprisingly， the countries with a very high level of GDP per capita may also face significant?health problems and have relatively low life expectancy including the United States because of the factors such as high infant mortality rate and obesity （Sherter， 2014; National Conference of State Legislatures， 2014）. Therefore， the question of whether or not a society that is wealthier is also healthier is complex and varies over time.

Health policies in China

In China， improvements in health have accompanied the rapid increase in Chinas GDP， and Chinas life expectancy reached 76 years three years ago. Significant?increases in GDP led to increases in health spending， better nutrition and the elimination of many infectious diseases. But these improvements were also due to specific policies ?provision of basic health care， and Chinas one-child policy which meant China avoided some of the problems of the demographic transition. Chinas life expectancy is high given its GDP per capita level. Investment in health has increased GDP， and this will make further health improvements. Nowadays， what kind of health policy is needed in China？

In the future， the Chinese government should invest more in medical research to cure chronic diseases and focus on prevention and early diagnosis. The prevalence of diabetes among adults in China was 9.7% in 2007-2008， and the majority of patients were undiagnosed and untreated （Eggleston 2012）. The economic consequences of chronic diseases in China are serious. Supporting prevention and the management of chronic diseases is still very significant.

Conclusion

In summary， this paper tried to be suggestive of the casual links， taking a closer look at the accepted theory by examining the inter-relationship between health and economic growth in different countries. Since the marginal effect of GDP growth on health declines in some countries where life expectancy has reached a certain level， the causal links between economic growth and health become less significant. Also， the interaction between them can vary from one context to another. Policy-makers in all countries need to be well-informed about the many links between health and economic welfare.

Work Cited

Strauss， John and Duncan Thomas， “Health， Nutrition， and Economic Development，” Journal of EconomicLiterature， 36（2）：766?817， 1998

“Newversion of Preston curve： Life Expectancy versus GDP PerCapita”， 2018 （https：//www.researchgate.net/figure/New-version-of-Preston-curve-Life-Expectancy-versus-GDP-Per-Capita_fig1_283725978）

Alain Sherter，“Whats behind the high rate of infant deaths in the U.S.”， MoneyWatch October 3， 2014， 5：00

“Obesity Statistics in the United States”， National Conference of State Legislatures， 9/4/2014（http：//www.ncsl.org/research/health/obesity-statistics-in-the-united-states.aspx）

Karen Eggleston， “Health Care for 1.3 Billion： An Overview of Chinas Health System”， January 9， 2012

張可

年齡：16

城市：南通

就讀學校：上海?WLSA Academy

年級：G11

未來申請專業目標：經濟學、數學

當我將鼠標按下保存鍵時，我長舒了一口氣，這篇長達千字的經濟學論文終于在無數次打磨加工下，得到了滿意的研究成果。諾貝爾獎得主福格爾關于營養與美國經濟發展的論文給我留下了很深的印象，也奠定了我的論文方向。我很感謝這個研究機會，它教會了我如何從零基礎到不斷積累，如何用HDI衡量國家發展水平、看OECD國家的教育與經濟不平等……電腦文件夾里一份份word文檔、Excel表格見證了我的這次成長。我也學會了很多統計與數據處理方面的知識。