Health and the Economy in the United States, from 1750 to the Present

Costa, Dora

Health and the Economy in the United States, from 1750 to the Present

No 19685, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: I discuss the health transition in the United States, bringing new data to bear on health indicators, and investigating the changing relationship between health, income, and the environment. I argue that scientific advances played an outsize role and that health improvements were largest among the poor. Health improvements were not a precondition for modern economic growth. The gains to health are largest when the economy has moved from "brawn" to "brains" because this is when the wage returns to education are high, leading the healthy to obtain more education. More education may improve use of health knowledge, producing a virtuous cycle.

JEL-codes: I1 N30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-his
Note: AG CH DAE EH
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published as Health and the Economy in the United States from 1750 to the Present Dora L. Costa JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC LITERATURE VOL. 53, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2015 (pp. 503-70)

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Journal Article: Health and the Economy in the United States from 1750 to the Present (2015)
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