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Health and Growth in CEMAC Countries: An Empirical Analysis
Faculty of Economic Sciences of the Marien Ngouabi University of Brazzaville, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
- 1 Faculty of Economic Sciences of the Marien Ngouabi University of Brazzaville, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
Theoretical Economics Letters·Volume 13 (2023)·Pages 1392–1402·Published 13 November 2023·DOI10.4236/tel.2023.136078
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Abstract
In this article, we sought to verify the impact of health on economic growth in the CEMAC zone, using life expectancy at birth as a variable of interest. We chose to use the dynamic panel generalized moments method because it provides solutions to the problems of simultaneity bias, reverse causality and omitted variables. The results show that life expectancy at birth positively explains economic growth in CEMAC countries. One of our control variables, the death rate, is significant but does not have the expected sign. Increased mortality promotes economic growth. This work establishes the mortality rate as a source of economic growth in the same way as FDI or the secondary school enrollment rate, among others.
KeywordsLife Expectancy at BirthPublic Health ExpenditureSecondary School En-rollment RateMortality RateGMMCEMAC
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