top of page
Asian Institute of Research, Journal Publication, Journal Academics, Education Journal, Asian Institute
Asian Institute of Research, Journal Publication, Journal Academics, Education Journal, Asian Institute

Journal of Health and Medical Sciences

ISSN 2622-7258

Screen Shot 2018-08-12 at 1.24.09 AM.png
Screen Shot 2018-08-12 at 1.24.02 AM.png
Screen Shot 2018-08-12 at 1.23.57 AM.png
Screen Shot 2018-08-12 at 1.23.52 AM.png
crossref
doi
open access

Published: 27 September 2021

Does Spending More on Healthcare Yields Higher Life Expectancy? A Case Study on Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

Nouf S. AlSaied, Musaed S. AlAli

Ministry of Health (Kuwait), The Public Institute of Applied Education and Training (Kuwait)

journal of social and political sciences
pdf download

Download Full-Text Pdf

doi

10.31014/aior.1994.04.03.185

Pages: 109-113

Keywords: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Life Expectancy, Healthcare Expenditure (HE), Panel OLS Regression, Healthcare System Efficiency

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the nexus between economic factors and life expectancy in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Using the data of 115 countries for the year 2019, results revealed that only healthcare expenditure (HE) per capita showed statistically significant direct relation with life expectancy while GDP per capita and percentage of country GDP allocated to healthcare sector did not show any statistically significant effect. Based on panel OLS regression model used in this research, results showed that with the amount of money GCC countries spend on their healthcare systems, four out of the six GCC countries had a life expectancy that was lower than the estimated life expectancy by 3.28 years indicating inefficiency in their healthcare systems. The output also indicates that even though economic factors have an effect on life expectancy to a certain point, other factors such as the quality of the healthcare system staff, education, corruption, pollution, and other non-economic factors also affect life expectancy.

References

  1. Boachie, M. and Ramu, K. (2016). Effect of public health expenditure on health status in Ghana. International Journal of Health, 4(1), 6-11.

  2. Chetty, R., Stepner, M., Abraham, S., Lin, S., Scuderi, B., Turner, N., Bergeron, A., and Cutler, D. (2016). The Association between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014. JAMA, 315(16), 1750–1766. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.4226

  3. Deshpande, N., Kumar, A. and Ramawami R. (2014). The Effect of National Healthcare Expenditure on Life Expectancy. Georgia Institute of Technology, available at https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/51648/The+Effect+of+National+Healthcare+Expenditure+on+Life+Expectancy.pdf;jsessionid=AE5D19255A0CB9474AFECD086C5D1297.smartech?sequence=1

  4. Jaba, E., Baln, C.B., and Robu, I.B. (2014). The Relationship between Life Expectancy at Birth and Health Expenditures Estimated by a Cross-country and Time-series Analysis. Procedia Economics and Finance. 15(2), 108–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(14)00454-7

  5. Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A. and Mastruzzi, M. (2003). Governance matters: governance indicators for 1996–2002. World Bank policy research department, Working Paper No. 3106.

  6. Linden, M. and Ray, D. (2017). Life expectancy effects of public and private health expenditures in OECD countries 1970–2012: Panel time series approach. Economic Analysis and Policy, 56, 101-113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2017.06.005

  7. Lleras-Muney, A., and Sherry, G. (2008). Health Inequality. Education and Medical Innovation. Demography, 45(3), 741–761.

  8. Mahumud, R. A., Hossain, G., Hossain, R., Islam, N., and Rawal, L. (2013). Impact of Life Expectancy on Economics Growth and Health Care Expenditures in Bangladesh. Universal Journal of Public Health, 1(4), 180-186.

  9. Ngangue, N., & Manfred, K. (2015). The impact of life expectancy on economic growth in developing countries. Asian Economic and Financial Review, 5(4), 653-660.

  10. Novignon, J., Olakojo, S.A. and Nonvignon, J. (2012). The Effects of Public and Private Health Care Expenditure on Health Status in Sub-Saharan Africa, New Evidence from Panel Data Analysis. Health Economics Review, 2(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/2191-1991-2-22

  11. Rogers, G.B. (1979). Income and inequality as determinants of mortality: an international cross-section analysis. Population Studies, 33(3), 343-351.

  12. Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom, Alfred A Knopf, New York.

  13. Wilkinson, RG (1996). Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality, Routledge, London.

  14. World Bank (1993). World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health. Available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/5976

bottom of page