Berta Rivera

Economic growth and health: direct impact or reverse causation?

The purpose of this paper is to identify the role of health status in productivity. In order to check the existence of reverse causation suggested by previous studies the Hausman test was carried out and different sets of instruments were used as exogenous determinants of health expenditure. Variables related to health expenditure were used to estimate the elasticity and these produced accepted results. Evidence was obtained to support the positive effect of health on economic growth.

Income Variation and Health Expenditure: Evidence for OECD Countries

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role health investment plays in human capital accumulation, and in so doing to demonstrate that education is not the only factor affecting the performance of the labor force and productivity. Estimates are made for the OECD countries for the period 1960-90. Investment in health contributes in a significant way to explaining variations in output through human capital, even in those countries which presumably have high levels of health. Copyright 1999 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

The effect of health investment on growth: A causality analysis

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of health investment on productivity as an important variable associated with human capital accumulation. The authors also study the possible existence of endogeneity by using instrumental variables estimation. The results that are obtained may be interpreted as evidence of the positive impact of health expenditure on income growth. Furthermore, the authors looked at the bounded gains of health status and divided the sample according to the median of total health expenditure and found that the countries with lower levels of health spending obtain larger benefits when the other determinants of growth are held constant.

Adaptación de los servicios de salud a las características específicas y de utilización de los nuevos españoles. Informe SESPAS 2008

Because of the progressive increase in the number of immigrants and the uncertainty about the capacity of the Spanish health service to deal with the quantitative and qualitative increases in demand, the possibility of introducing changes to adapt our services to the new situation should be considered. Beginning with an analysis of the factors that influence health status and use of the health service, based on the National Health Survey (NHS), the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) and the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), we compare the health profiles and patterns of medical resources utilization between the national and foreign populations. The pattern of demand for health services in the immigrant population corresponds basically to the needs of a young population in good health. According to NHS data, resource utilization among immigrants can even be lower than that among the national population. Assessing the link between health status and demand for healthcare from a dynamic point of view, by identifying variations in patterns of health and patterns of demand for healthcare, is important to identify imbalances in resources and to establish an appropriate hierarchy of preventive and treatment priorities.

HEALTH IMPROVEMENTS AND THE TRANSITION OUT OF MALTHUSIAN STAGNATION

The central component of most economic models that analyse the transition from the Malthusian regime to self-sustaining developed economies is education. Improved health is normally envisaged as simply a by-product of economic growth. Whereas growth does, indeed, tend to improve health status, the reverse is also true, namely that health improvements are a dynamic force capable of driving economic expansion. This paper underlines the importance of health improvements in escaping from Malthusian stagnation. Further, and in contrast to existing literature, which emphasizes the effects of changes in mortality rates, this paper focuses on the relationship between health status and the efficiency of human capital technology. Through this channel, health improvements stimulate investments in child quality in terms of both nourishing and schooling and drive the economy towards the Modern Growth regime.

Length of stay and mental health of the immigrant population in Spain: evidence of the healthy immigrant effect

This article analyses the relationship between how long immigrant populations reside in the country of destination and the state of their mental health. The empirical approach to this relationship relies on data from the Spanish National Health Survey 2011–2012. The results confirm a Healthy Immigrant Effect that tends to decline in accordance with how long the immigrant stays. Immigrants who have been residing for less than 10 years in Spain have better mental health than the national population as a whole. It is important to study health disparities among the foreign population and how these evolve to ensure that it has access to health services and that its health care needs are met.

Pérdidas laborales atribuibles a la mortalidad prematura por lesiones de tránsito entre 2002 y 2012

OBJECTIVE To estimate the years of potential life lost, years of potential productive life lost and the labor productivity losses attributable to premature deaths due to traffic injuries between 2002 and 2012 in Spain. METHOD Several statistical sources were combined (Spanish Registry of Deaths, Labor Force Survey and Wage Structure Survey) to develop a simulation model based on the human capital approach. This model allowed us to estimate the loss of labor productivity caused by premature deaths following traffic injuries from 2002 to 2012. In addition, mortality tables with life expectancy estimates were used to compute years of potential life lost and years of potential productive life lost. RESULTS The estimated loss of labour productivity caused by fatal traffic injuries between 2002 and 2012 in Spain amounted to 9,521 million euros (baseline year 2012). The aggregate number of years of potential life lost in the period amounted to 1,433,103, whereas the years of potential productive life lost amounted to 875,729. Throughout the period analyzed, labor productivity losses and years of life lost diminished substantially. CONCLUSIONS Labor productivity losses due to fatal traffic injuries decreased throughout the period analyzed. Nevertheless, the cumulative loss was alarmingly high. Estimation of the economic impact of health problems can complement conventional indicators of distinct dimensions and be used to support public policy making.

MonográficoPérdidas laborales atribuibles a la mortalidad prematura por lesiones de tránsito entre 2002 y 2012Labor productivity losses attributable to premature deaths due to traffic injuries between 2002 and 2012

OBJECTIVE To estimate the years of potential life lost, years of potential productive life lost and the labor productivity losses attributable to premature deaths due to traffic injuries between 2002 and 2012 in Spain. METHOD Several statistical sources were combined (Spanish Registry of Deaths, Labor Force Survey and Wage Structure Survey) to develop a simulation model based on the human capital approach. This model allowed us to estimate the loss of labor productivity caused by premature deaths following traffic injuries from 2002 to 2012. In addition, mortality tables with life expectancy estimates were used to compute years of potential life lost and years of potential productive life lost. RESULTS The estimated loss of labour productivity caused by fatal traffic injuries between 2002 and 2012 in Spain amounted to 9,521 million euros (baseline year 2012). The aggregate number of years of potential life lost in the period amounted to 1,433,103, whereas the years of potential productive life lost amounted to 875,729. Throughout the period analyzed, labor productivity losses and years of life lost diminished substantially. CONCLUSIONS Labor productivity losses due to fatal traffic injuries decreased throughout the period analyzed. Nevertheless, the cumulative loss was alarmingly high. Estimation of the economic impact of health problems can complement conventional indicators of distinct dimensions and be used to support public policy making.

Parental education, child’s grade repetition and the modifier effect of cannabis use

Previous research on the relationship among family socio-economic status (SES), cannabis use and educational attainment has concentrated on finding a causal pathway from SES and illicit drug use to educational achievement. However, the association between family background and a child’s cannabis use is weak. When analysing both family SES and education as determinants of a child’s educational attainment, cannabis use should be treated as an effect modifier rather than a confounder. This article examines how cannabis use alters the protective effect of better family education on a child’s school performance. By means of a retrospective cohort study using data from the Spanish National Survey on Drug Use in Secondary Education, this study illustrates that, as expected, children of better-educated parents are less likely to repeat a grade, although the positive impact of higher family education vanishes when students use cannabis.

Illicit drug use and labour market participation: evidence of simultaneity

Empirical research into the relationship between illicit drug use and labour market success has been found to have mixed results in the literature. The relevant sources of variability are the methods used to account for the potential endogeneity of drug use. This article utilizes clinical data for drug use and a recursive simultaneous equations approach as an alternative method for estimating the effect of consumption on labour participation and as a means for controlling for the endogeneity problem. Our results confirm that drug use is endogenously determined, and provide evidence to support the thesis that frequent use of dependency drugs greatly decreases the likelihood of being employed.