Health and Economic Growth: Reconciling the Micro and Macro Evidence

David Bloom, David Canning, Rainer Kotschy, Klaus Prettner and Johannes Schünemann

No 26003, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Economists use micro-based and macro-based approaches to assess the macroeconomic return to population health. The macro-based approach tends to yield estimates that are either negative and close to zero or positive and an order of magnitude larger than the range of estimates derived from the micro-based approach. This presents a micro-macro puzzle regarding the macroeconomic return to health. We reconcile the two approaches by controlling for the indirect effects of health, which macro-based approaches usually include but micro-based approaches deliberately omit when isolating the direct effect of health. Our results show that the macroeconomic return to health lies in the range of plausible microeconomic estimates, demonstrating that both approaches are in fact consistent with one another.

JEL-codes: I15 I25 J11 O11 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-06
Note: EFG EH
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

Published as David E. Bloom & David Canning & Rainer Kotschy & Klaus Prettner & Johannes Schünemann, 2024. "Health and economic growth: Reconciling the micro and macro evidence," World Development, vol 178.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Health and economic growth: Reconciling the micro and macro evidence (2024)
Working Paper: Health and Economic Growth: Reconciling the Micro and Macro Evidence (2022)
Working Paper: Health and Economic Growth: Reconciling the Micro and Macro Evidence (2022)
Working Paper: Health and Economic Growth: Reconciling the Micro and Macro Evidence (2018)
Working Paper: Health and Economic Growth: Reconciling the Micro and Macro Evidence (2018)
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