Health and the Evolution of Welfare across Brazilian Municipalities

Rodrigo Soares

No 2771, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper describes the pattern of reductions in mortality across Brazilian municipalities between 1970 and 2000, and analyzes its causes and consequences. It shows that, as in the international context, the relationship between income and life expectancy has shifted consistently in the recent past. But reductions in mortality within Brazil have been more homogeneously distributed than across countries. We use a compensating differentials approach to estimate the value of the observed reductions in mortality. The results suggest that gains in life expectancy had a welfare value equivalent to 39% of the growth in income per capita, being therefore responsible for 28% of the overall improvement in welfare. We then use a dynamic panel to conduct a preliminary assessment of the potential determinants of these gains. We show that improvements in education, access to water, and sanitation seem to be important determinants of the dimension of changes in life expectancy not correlated with income.

Keywords: value of life; life expectancy; mortality; inequality; health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I31 I38 J17 O15 O54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2007-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-hap, nep-hea and nep-lam
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (38)

Published - published in: Journal of Development Economics, 2007, 84(2), 590–608

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Related works:
Journal Article: Health and the evolution of welfare across Brazilian municipalities (2007)
Working Paper: Health and the Evolution of Welfare across Brazilian Municipalities (2007)
Working Paper: HEALTH AND THE EVOLUTION OF WELFARE ACROSS BRAZILIAN MUNICIPALITIES (2006)
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