Discussion Paper
No. 2009-40 | September 10, 2009
Muhammad Jami Husain
Contribution of Health to Economic Development: A Survey and Overview
(Published in Survey and Overview)

Abstract

The policies for better health, poverty reduction, and less inequality, throughout the world, require thorough understanding of both the processes and causal paths that underlie the intricate relationship between health and wealth (income). This is deemed difficult, contingent, and only partially understood. The adage ‘health is wealth’ is still, primarily, an intuitive proposition. A vast majority of researchers instead present theoretical and empirical arguments of the reverse proposition, i.e. ‘wealth is health’. A recent strand of the literature, however, reflects changes in the perceptions: improvements of health and longevity are no longer viewed as a mere end- or by-product of economic development; but argued as one of the key determinants of, and therefore means to achieve, economic development and poverty reduction. Hence, better health does not have to wait for an improved economy; rather, measures to reduce the burden of disease, to give children healthy childhoods, to increase life expectancy etc. will in themselves contribute to creating richer economies. Drawing on the traditional and emerging perspectives on the health-income relationship, this literature review presents a non-exhaustive survey of existing methodological approaches and their results that are applied to track and measure how health influences economic outcomes.

JEL Classification:

I10, J11, O40

Links

Cite As

[Please cite the corresponding journal article] Muhammad Jami Husain (2009). Contribution of Health to Economic Development: A Survey and Overview. Economics Discussion Papers, No 2009-40, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. http://www.economics-ejournal.org/economics/discussionpapers/2009-40


Comments and Questions



Anonymous - Referee Report 1
October 22, 2009 - 08:17
See attached file

Anonymous - Referee Report 2
December 07, 2009 - 09:30
See attached file

Muhammad Jami Husain - Reply to Referee Reports 1 and 2
April 06, 2010 - 10:32
See attached file