Hälsa som drivkraft för ekonomisk tillväxt

Sammanfattning: The study examines the relationship between health and economic growth. The hypothesis states that good health positively impacts a country's economic growth, while poor health has the reverse effect. In order to test this, a panel regression with fixed effects including the 38 OECD members is conducted over a time period from 2000-2019. Economic growth as a dependent variable is explained by eleven independent variables. The health variables are: health expenditure, mortality from lifestyle diseases, infant mortality rate, prevalence of overweight, alcohol consumption, tobacco usage and life expectancy at birth. Data for the health variables is collected from the World Bank's database Health Nutrition and Populations Statistics. The main conclusion from the study indicates a strong link between health and economic growth, with five out of seven health variables being significant. In line with the hypothesis, health expenditure and mortality from lifestyle diseases are negatively correlated with economic growth. On the other hand, prevalence of overweight and alcohol consumption have a positive correlation with economic growth.