Does inequality in health impede economic growth?

Michael Grimm

Oxford Economic Papers, 2011, vol. 63, issue 3, 448-474

Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of inequality in health on economic growth in low and middle income countries. The empirical part of the paper uses an original cross-national panel data set covering 62 low and middle income countries over the period 1985 to 2007. I find a substantial and relatively robust negative effect of health inequality on income levels and income growth controlling for life expectancy, country and time fixed-effects and a large number of other effects that have been shown to matter for growth. The effect also holds if health inequality is instrumented to circumvent a potential problem of reverse causality. Hence, reducing inequality in the access to health care and to health-related information can make a substantial contribution to economic growth. Copyright 2011 Oxford University Press 2011 All rights reserved, Oxford University Press.

Date: 2011
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