Volume 31, Number 4 (Fall) 1996
Pritchett, Lant, and Lawrence H. Summers. 1996. "Wealthier is Healthier." Journal of Human Resources 31(4):841-868.
We estimate the effect of income on health using cross-country, time-series data on health (infant and child mortality and life expectancy) and income per capita. We use instrumental variables estimates using exogenous determinants of income growth to identify the pure income effect on health, isolated from reverse causation or incidental association. The long-run income elasticity of infant and child mortality in developing countries lies between 0.2 and 0.4. Using these estimates, we calculate that over a half a million child deaths in the developing world in 1990 alone can be attributed to the poor economic performance in the 1980s.
Lant H. Pritchett is a Senior Economist in the Policy Research Department of the World Bank. Lawrence H. Summers is the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department. The authors would like to thank anonymous referees for comments that led to substantial improvements. The view expressed are those of the authors alone and do not represent the views of either the U.S. Treasury or the World Bank. The data can be obtained beginning February 1997 through January 2000 from Lant Pritchett at the World Bank, 1818 H. St., N.W., Washington, DC 20433.
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