ABSTRACT

This paper studies the empirical relationship between population’s health and real GDP dynamics in low- and middle-income countries. We employ a semi-parametric technique, which combines mixed panel data models and cluster analysis to account for unobserved heterogeneity, an important source of estimation bias in growth regressions. We estimate a version of the Solow growth model augmented with human capital, in the form of both education and health. Our estimates show that population s health, here proxied by the life expectancy at birth, has a positive, sizable, and statistically significant effect on both the level and the growth rate of the real per capita GDP.

摘要

本文研究了低收入和中等收入国家人口健康与实际 GDP 动态之间的实证关系。我们采用了一种半参数技术，它结合了混合面板数据模型和聚类分析来解释未观察到的异质性，这是增长回归中估计偏差的重要来源。我们估计了索洛增长模型的一个版本，以教育和健康的形式增加了人力资本。我们的估计表明，人口健康（这里以出生时的预期寿命为代表）对实际人均 GDP 的水平和增长率具有积极的、可观的和统计上显着的影响。