The Intimate Link between Income Levels and Life Expectancy: Global Evidence from 213 Years

Michael Jetter, Sabine Laudage () and David Stadelmann
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Sabine Laudage: University of Bayreuth

No 10015, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Contrary to previous findings, we find a systematic and economically sizeable relationship between income levels and life expectancy in a panel dataset of 197 countries over 213 years. By itself, GDP/capita explains more than 64 percent of the variation in life expectancy. The Preston curve prevails, even when accounting for country- and time-fixed effects, country-specific time trends, and alternative control variables. Quantile regressions and instrumental variable estimations suggest this link to be persistent across different levels of life expectancy and unaffected by reverse causality. If policymakers want to prolong people's lives, economic growth appears to be the predominant medicine.

Keywords: life expectancy; income levels; historical panel data; quantile regression analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H51 I15 I31 J11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2016-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-hea, nep-his and nep-lab
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Published - published in: Social Science Quarterly, 2019, 100 (4), 1387 - 1403

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Journal Article: The Intimate Link Between Income Levels and Life Expectancy: Global Evidence from 213 Years (2019)
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