An Examination of the Relationship between Health and Economic Growth

This paper attempts to examine the relationship between health and economic growth. The rate of growth is measured using gross national income (GNI) and health status is measured using infant mortality rate and life expectancy rate. A theoretical framework has been developed to model this linkage between health and growth and this is further tested using a regression model which tests the causality between these variables of interest. We have also assumed in this analysis that these variables are affected by state-specific unobservable fixed effects, since there are other cultural, political and social factors at work here. [Working Paper No. 185]