This document outlines the links between health, poverty, and economic development. It discusses how poverty can negatively impact health through limited access to healthcare, nutrition, and education. Poor health can then perpetuate poverty by reducing productivity and labor outcomes. The document reviews econometric methods for studying these relationships and summarizes evidence showing impacts of improved health on education and economic outcomes. Health expenditures and indicators vary significantly between rich and poor countries.
Ch. 2 Comparing Vulnerable Groups
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Explain the difference between curative and preventive approaches to health care.
Identify common factors among vulnerable populations.
Examine age as it relates to the concept of vulnerability.
Determine the ways in which gender contributes to vulnerability.
Discuss how culture and ethnicity affect vulnerability on both personal and population levels.
Explain the relationship between education and income levels, and vulnerability.
Introduction
The United States boasts one of the most robust health care systems in the world. It is statistically credited with the longer healthy lifetimes enjoyed by a majority of the American population. Advances in medical science and technology certainly improve medical interventions, but a recent change in the philosophy of medical care is credited with improving the population's health on a macro level. As the cost of health care in America soared during the 1990s and 2000s, the health care community's focus shifted from curative care to preventive medicine.
Curative medicine focuses on curing existing diseases and conditions. In contrast, preventive medicine works by educating the community on healthy lifestyle habits, such as regular exercise, nutritious food choices, and abstention from smoking. The idea is to prevent or forestall disease rather than wait until someone falls ill before providing treatment; however, living healthy lifestyles is still a personal choice. Studies indicate that preventive health care reduces morbidity, and that a preventive approach not only thwarts diseases that are associated with unhealthy choices, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, but also creates strong immune systems to fight common illnesses like flu and cold viruses. Furthermore, people who do not get sick are more productive workers because they do not have as many sickness-related absences. This point is particularly important when considering vulnerable populations. For many people, especially those in the most at-risk groups, workdays lost to illness means days without pay. Financial instability detracts from a person's social status, which is a nonmaterial resource that contributes to vulnerability. Less social status means less access to community resources, such as health care and fresh foods. Lack of resource access leads to more illness, and so the cycle continues.
Many individuals have limited access to health care, which includes the inability to access medical clinics for reasons of proximity, the lack of insurance coverage, and financial constraints such as inability to pay for medical treatments. Preventive medicine focuses on educating people before they become ill, but resource accessibility restricts preventive medicine programs and responsive health care programs from reaching the most at-risk populations. Evidence of this is seen in data on topics like bre ...
2Quote Log Health and WealthStudents NameInst.docxrobert345678
2
Quote Log Health and Wealth
Student's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date
Instructors Name
Social Issue: Health & Wealth
Topic:
Health & Wealth
Thesis:
The stressors of finance can have adverse effects because they can affect the development of children, create an unsafe psychological state and contribute to poor physical health.
Reasons:
1. It has been shown that a family's socioeconomic standing has a substantial bearing on the educational, vocational, and social opportunities that are made accessible to the children of that family. These factors, in turn, influence the children's long-term physical and mental health.
2. Children from families with lower earnings are less likely to be insured or have access to medications and treatments that may assist in managing chronic health conditions. This is particularly true for individuals who reside in households where there is only one parent present.
3. Children who are worse on the socioeconomic ladder are more prone to deal in a destructive way, such as by smoking or drinking excessively when they grow up, which may inflict significant harm to one's health if done to an extreme.
Entry #1
Source:
Sapolsky, R.M. (2018). The health-wealth gap.
Scientific American, 319(5), pp. 62- 67.
http://ezproxy.umgc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=edb&AN=132271091&site=eds-live&scope=site
Quote:
"One of the consequences of the growing poor is worsening health, and the reasons are not as obvious as you might think. Yes, lower socioeconomic status (SES) means less access to health care and living in more disease-prone neighbourhoods. And, yes, as the SES ladder's lower rungs have become more populated, the number of people with medical problems has climbed. This is not merely an issue of poor health for the poor and some version of better health for everyone else. Starting with Jeff Bezos at the top, every step down the ladder is associated with worse health.” (Sapolsky, 2018, p. 62-67).
Paraphrase:
The welfare of children will deteriorate as a consequence of people falling into poverty. Children from families with lower socioeconomic positions have a lower chance of accessing medical treatment and tend to reside in locations with a higher incidence of disease (Sapolsky, 2018).
Explanation of quote selection and connection:
Children who are not perfect and battling to live in a healthy environment are likely to get ill and have difficulty affording medical treatment due to their low socioeconomic position. This is because their living conditions are not ideal. Children who come from families with a low socioeconomic status, which is often the result of financial disparity, are more likely to have physical and mental health issues.
Entry #2
Source:
Purnell, J. Q. (2015). Financial health is public health. In L. Choi, D. Erickson, K. Griffin, A. Levere, & E. Seidman (Eds.),
What it’s Worth: Strengthening the financial futures .
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Ch. 2 Comparing Vulnerable Groups
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Explain the difference between curative and preventive approaches to health care.
Identify common factors among vulnerable populations.
Examine age as it relates to the concept of vulnerability.
Determine the ways in which gender contributes to vulnerability.
Discuss how culture and ethnicity affect vulnerability on both personal and population levels.
Explain the relationship between education and income levels, and vulnerability.
Introduction
The United States boasts one of the most robust health care systems in the world. It is statistically credited with the longer healthy lifetimes enjoyed by a majority of the American population. Advances in medical science and technology certainly improve medical interventions, but a recent change in the philosophy of medical care is credited with improving the population's health on a macro level. As the cost of health care in America soared during the 1990s and 2000s, the health care community's focus shifted from curative care to preventive medicine.
Curative medicine focuses on curing existing diseases and conditions. In contrast, preventive medicine works by educating the community on healthy lifestyle habits, such as regular exercise, nutritious food choices, and abstention from smoking. The idea is to prevent or forestall disease rather than wait until someone falls ill before providing treatment; however, living healthy lifestyles is still a personal choice. Studies indicate that preventive health care reduces morbidity, and that a preventive approach not only thwarts diseases that are associated with unhealthy choices, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, but also creates strong immune systems to fight common illnesses like flu and cold viruses. Furthermore, people who do not get sick are more productive workers because they do not have as many sickness-related absences. This point is particularly important when considering vulnerable populations. For many people, especially those in the most at-risk groups, workdays lost to illness means days without pay. Financial instability detracts from a person's social status, which is a nonmaterial resource that contributes to vulnerability. Less social status means less access to community resources, such as health care and fresh foods. Lack of resource access leads to more illness, and so the cycle continues.
Many individuals have limited access to health care, which includes the inability to access medical clinics for reasons of proximity, the lack of insurance coverage, and financial constraints such as inability to pay for medical treatments. Preventive medicine focuses on educating people before they become ill, but resource accessibility restricts preventive medicine programs and responsive health care programs from reaching the most at-risk populations. Evidence of this is seen in data on topics like bre ...
2Quote Log Health and WealthStudents NameInst.docxrobert345678
2
Quote Log Health and Wealth
Student's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date
Instructors Name
Social Issue: Health & Wealth
Topic:
Health & Wealth
Thesis:
The stressors of finance can have adverse effects because they can affect the development of children, create an unsafe psychological state and contribute to poor physical health.
Reasons:
1. It has been shown that a family's socioeconomic standing has a substantial bearing on the educational, vocational, and social opportunities that are made accessible to the children of that family. These factors, in turn, influence the children's long-term physical and mental health.
2. Children from families with lower earnings are less likely to be insured or have access to medications and treatments that may assist in managing chronic health conditions. This is particularly true for individuals who reside in households where there is only one parent present.
3. Children who are worse on the socioeconomic ladder are more prone to deal in a destructive way, such as by smoking or drinking excessively when they grow up, which may inflict significant harm to one's health if done to an extreme.
Entry #1
Source:
Sapolsky, R.M. (2018). The health-wealth gap.
Scientific American, 319(5), pp. 62- 67.
http://ezproxy.umgc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=edb&AN=132271091&site=eds-live&scope=site
Quote:
"One of the consequences of the growing poor is worsening health, and the reasons are not as obvious as you might think. Yes, lower socioeconomic status (SES) means less access to health care and living in more disease-prone neighbourhoods. And, yes, as the SES ladder's lower rungs have become more populated, the number of people with medical problems has climbed. This is not merely an issue of poor health for the poor and some version of better health for everyone else. Starting with Jeff Bezos at the top, every step down the ladder is associated with worse health.” (Sapolsky, 2018, p. 62-67).
Paraphrase:
The welfare of children will deteriorate as a consequence of people falling into poverty. Children from families with lower socioeconomic positions have a lower chance of accessing medical treatment and tend to reside in locations with a higher incidence of disease (Sapolsky, 2018).
Explanation of quote selection and connection:
Children who are not perfect and battling to live in a healthy environment are likely to get ill and have difficulty affording medical treatment due to their low socioeconomic position. This is because their living conditions are not ideal. Children who come from families with a low socioeconomic status, which is often the result of financial disparity, are more likely to have physical and mental health issues.
Entry #2
Source:
Purnell, J. Q. (2015). Financial health is public health. In L. Choi, D. Erickson, K. Griffin, A. Levere, & E. Seidman (Eds.),
What it’s Worth: Strengthening the financial futures .
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The Elderly and Malnutrition Essays
Child Malnutrition Essay
Child Malnutrition
What Is Malnutrition?
Malnutrition Of Older Adults : Malnutrition
Essay about Poverty, Hunger and Malnutrition
Malnutrition Literature Review
Malnutrition And Malnutrition
Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool Essay
Malnutrition Informative Speech
Malnutrition Associated With Chronic Disease
Case Study On Malnutrition
Malnutrition Paper
Essay On Malnutrition
Essay on Malnutrition
Malnutrition in the Philippines Essay
Malnutrition In The United States
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Presentation by Paula Braveman, MD, MPH at the 2009 Virginia Health Equity Conference.
Dr. Braveman described the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Commission to Build a Healthier America and explained the RWJF’s rationale for creating the Commission and for the Commission’s work to focus on the social determinants of health, and its relevance to health equity. She also discussed the Commission’s recommendations.
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Presentation by Paula Braveman, MD, MPH at the 2009 Virginia Health Equity Conference.
Dr. Braveman described the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Commission to Build a Healthier America and explained the RWJF’s rationale for creating the Commission and for the Commission’s work to focus on the social determinants of health, and its relevance to health equity. She also discussed the Commission’s recommendations.
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Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
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This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
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Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
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Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
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• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
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2. Outline
Health Indicators
Econometric Methods
Link between Poverty and Health
Link between Health and Poverty
Link between Health and Education
Link between Health and Labor Outcomes
3. Textbooks on health economics
and development
Website
Jack Williams: Principles of Health Economics for
Developing Countries
Phil Musgrove: Health Economics in Developing
Countries
– whole book in class readings, up top
World Development Report 1993: Investing In
Health
4. Health expenditures
Table 1: Health Comparisons
US spends per capita 70% (~$2,000) more than
other high income.
High income countries spent 103 times the amount
of low income countries and 26 times more than
middle income countries.
Notice that even upper middle income countries
spend 10 times less than high income countries.
Substantially less total dollars per person going into
health.
5. Health expenditures
As a percent of GDP {(Gross domestic product (GDP)
is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and
services produced and sold in a specific time period by a country}
low and middle income countries spend
about the same on health
So they are all putting a similar priority on
health care spending in the economy
Higher income countries spend 4 percentage
points more of GDP on health, 10%
This shows the priorities are not so out of line, just
the poorer countries don’t have such large
economies so in total spend less
6. Health expenditures
People have to pay more out-of-pocket in
low-income countries as compared to high-
come countries.
Low income: 1% government, 4% private
Middle income: 3% government, 3% private
High Income: 6% government, 4% private
As countries get richer they are more able and
willing to spend public resources on health care.
Why might this be?
7. Health indicators
Infant mortality rate (IMR)
Used as an indicator of the health of the population
Infants have less developed immune systems
More likely to die from diseases in the environment
Nutrition
Nutrition is a good measure of general susceptibility to
health since it is the under lying cause of many disease.
Malnourished have a weaker immune system
8. Health indicators
Health indicators in developing countries fall short of
developed countries
e.g., life expectancy at birth for females is:
Low income countries: 59
Middle income countries: 72
High income countries: 81
The gap between the rich and poor has decreased over the
years.
e.g. In 2000, life expectancy at birth for women is 22 years less in
low income as compared to high income countries. In 1960 the
difference was 28 years.
Great improvements in access to water but still very high IMR in
developing countries
Table 1: Health Comparisons
9. Nutrition indicators
Undernourishment
(% Pop)
Malnutrition
(% under 5)
Height/
age
Weight/
age
Low
Income
24.63 43.12 43.72
Middle
Income
9.51 27.06 11.11
Source: World Development Indicators 2000, The World Bank.
Long-term measure
of nutrition
Short-term
measure of nutrition
10. Health indicators
Table 2: Health Indicators
In lower income countries:
Higher prevalence of malnutrition
Much higher incidence of preventable diseases (e.g. TB)
Every year more than 10 million children die from
preventable diseases (World Bank, 2003)
Types of health problems different in developed and
developing countries (e.g. obestity)
High incidence of malnutrition very important
because it is often an underlying factor that causes
death from other aliments such as infections
diseases
11. Health indicators
Difference in health outcomes between developed and
developing important
In Developing Countries:
Age distribution of ill health tilted toward infants and
pre-school children – policy tilt as well
More communicable than non-communicable
Adults more likely to be afflicted with health
problems
Result of poor health when a child
New health problems in adulthood
Less likely to receive government help to solve
health issues – high health exp. can lead to poverty
12. Why worry about poor health
Health poverty trap
(Sala-i-Martin)
Link between poverty (income) and health
Link between health and poverty
Links between health and education (Miguel)
Links between health and labor outcomes
(Thomas & Strauss)
Lets see what some of the research says, but first
talk about the methods
13. Econometric methods
Hard to test these theories (see Strauss & Thomas)
Difficult to disentangle correlation and causation
1. Reverse causality
2. Omitted variable bias
Both of these are sometime referred to as endogeneity
Income Health Health Income
Education Outcomes
Health
1.
2. or
Unobservable Parent Characteristics
Child Health Educational Outcomes
14. Health and Income/Productivity Eg.
E.g., Impact of schistosomiasis on output of
sugar cane workers in Tanzania
Schistosomiasis is a parasite. Causes fatigue,
fevers, and aches. From slow-moving water.
Divide workers into those with and without Schisto
Those with, half treated and other half not treated.
Measure earnings before and after experiment
(earnings based on sugar cane cut).
Found a positive impact in Tanzania but not
impact in Cameroon with similar experiment
15. Economic methods
Non-experimental:
Household survey
collect data on health status, wages, and productivity.
Cross-section
Observation at one point in time
correlation between poor health and earnings.
Better to use a panel data set
observations on the same individual over time
16. Health poverty trap
Low income tends to cause poor health and
poor health in turn causes low income.
Policy must therefore address both health
and poverty simultaneously.
This is what conditional cash transfer are trying to
do.
17. Poverty affects health: Theory
1. Poor cannot buy health care
Cannot afford to prevent a disease before it
occurs (vaccinations)
Doctor visit for diagnosis
Drugs to treat the problem
2. Poor more likely to be malnourished
Can’t afford food or fertilizer to grow food
Lack of food and variety
Immune system weak
Susceptible to diseases
18. Poverty affects health: Theory
3. Lack of income to buy drugs so
pharmaceutical companies do not invest
drug development for specialize diseases
(i.e. malaria)
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports
research on diseases that mainly affect the poor
in the South
4. Poor are more likely to live far away from
doctors and hospitals
Transportation costs are large
Poor more likely to go untreated
Certainly holds for rural poor, may not hold for
urban poor in all countries
Use mobile health clinics and foot doctors to
reach the poor in rural areas
19. Poverty affects health: Theory
5. Poor less likely to be educated
Many studies have shown the more educated
mothers (literacy) have healthier children
Educated mother understands sanitation better
(wash hands using soap, drink clean water)
Can read so knows how to make and use ORT
(Oral Rehydration Therapy)
Knows not to use rusty razor or scissors when
cutting umbilical cord—neonatal tetanus
6. Poor and uneducated girls less likely to
refuse sex and more likely have risky sex
leaving them vulnerable to AIDS
20. Poverty affects health: Evidence
There has recently been causal evidence of
the link between income and health
Duflo 2003 and Case 2001:
Study of the effect of increasing the amount and
coverage of the social pension program in South
Africa for the elderly black population found that
income transfers also led to nutritional
improvements among girls.
21. Health affects poverty: Theory
Human Capital:
Economist Theodore Schultz invented the term in
the 1960s to reflect the value of our human
capacities.
He believed human capital was like any other type
of capital. It could be invested in through
education, training, and enhanced benefits that
will lead to an improvement in the quality and level
of production.
Health and education are thought to be two of the
most important ways to improve one’s human
capital.
22. Health affects poverty: Theory
Use an aggregate production function to help
understand the channels through which health
affects poverty.
Y = AF(K,hL)
Y=output (GDP) ; A= efficiency parameter;
F( )=production function; K=physical capital;
L=labor; h=quality of labor or human capital
GDP growth only occurs if there are increases in
efficiency (technology), level of physical capital,
or quality or quantity of labor.
23. Health affects poverty
How we might affect h in the model
1. health improves h by improving labor
productivity
Can do more in the same amount of time if
are healthy.
Unhealthy people are more likely to have
lower incomes and experience lower income
growth.
2. h increases when education increases
Health improves educational outcomes
(more on this later).
24. Health affects poverty
3. Employers don’t want to support job training
for sick workers
In HIV/AIDs prevalent area, some companies prefer to
give training to the old than the young, because the
young may die.
4. Poor health in a region tends to lead to
lower human capital accumulation and
hence lower incomes
Quantity-Quality Trade-Off
Parents living in areas where child mortality rates are
high tend to have many children instead of having a
few children and investing in their human capital.
25. Health affects poverty
Low life expectancy leads to lower investment in
education and health because less years to reap the
returns to those investments.
If you live in high disease environments it is more likely
one or more of your parents will die. This affects the level
of education and health of the child (human capital).
This is especially the case in HIV/AIDS prevalent areas.
By 2010 estimated that 20 million and Africa will be AIDS orphans.
(UNAIDS)
This is a function of less family income, but also the presence
of the parent.
Helps with homework, recognizes sickness and knows remedies.
26. Health affects poverty
Affecting K in the model:
1. Poor health reduces national savings and capital
accumulation
When life expectancy is close to retirement age people
do not save and invest as much as when people live
long after retirement.
2. Complementarities between physical and human
capital
If human capital is needed to effectively use the
physical capital, then low human capital will lead to
lower capital accumulation.
Firms don’t want to invest in countries with an
unhealthy, uneducated labor force.
27. Health affects poverty
Effect on Aggregate Efficiency, A
1. Aggregate efficiency if affected by
technological advances.
Low human capital may lead to a lower rate of
technological advances
This assumes more health people = more technical
advances
May only need a core group
28. Health affects poverty
2. Poor health also leads to the wrong choice of
institutions in a country
Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2001, 2002)
Argue colonial power determined the institutions they
set up based on the disease environment.
Land inhospitable: set up extractive institutions ones
that may not have dealt with property rights, rule of law,
education systems.
Land hospitable: would send their own citizens to set
up more comprehensive institutions that dealt with
long-term growth of the country.
29. Health affects poverty
Countries inherited these colonial institutions
and their problems. Believed that quality of
institutions really affects economic
development
World Bank has spent the past decade on institution
building or capacity building
3. Health inequality leads to less social
cohesion and larger probability of unrest
Social unrest, violence and fractionalization
are important determinants of economic
growth.
30. Health affect education
Mechanism through which health affects
schooling:
1. Poor nutrition leads to poor brain
development which affects learning
2. Poor health leads to worse attendance and
attention in class
3. Parental death
31. Health affects education
Evidence
Non-experimental research on the impact of
child health on education is ambiguous.
There is experimental research which may
show a causal link between health and
education (too early to tell).
Important example is the Primary School
Deworming Project in Busia, Kenya
1.3 billion people worldwide infected with
roundworm, 1.3 billion hookworm, 900 million
whipworm
32. Health affects education
Deworming Project in Busia
In Econometrica Miguel and Kremer, 2004
Worm infections lead to anemia, protein energy
malnutrition, stunting, wasting, listlessness, and
abdominal pain.
Get rid of worms using low cost drugs at appox. 6
month intervals (<50 cents per person per year).
Want to test if health impacts educational
attainment.
Test by treating worms
33. Health affects education
Deworming Project in Busia
Project carried out by a local NGO
In January 1998, 75 schools randomly
divided into 3 groups of 25 schools:
1. Received free deworming treatment in 1998
2. Received free deworming treatment in 1999
3. Received free deworming treatment in 2001
Group 1 always the treatment group
Group 2 control until 1999
Group 3 control group until 2001
34. Health affects education
Deworming Project in Busia
Surveyed children 2 or 3 times a year
Program lead to immediate health gains
25% reduction in worm infections
percentage of children reporting being sick in the
last week dropped from 45% to 41%
Small reduction in malnutrition
Reduction in school absenteeism by 7 percentage
points
Results show no impact on cognitive test scores
(from 1998-2000) period
35. Health and labor outcomes
Better health may improve wages and labor
productivity (hours supplied/work done)
Can work more hours and get more done during
the same amount of hours when are healthier.
Better health as a child leads to improved
cognitive ability which can lead to better labor
market outcomes in the future
36. Health and labor outcomes
Evidence
Taller people earn more and are more likely
to participate in the labor market
Height reflects investments in nutrition and
health as a child (human capital)
Robert Fogel (1992,1994) argues that
movements in adult height reflect long-run
changes in standards of living (income, mortality,
morbidity).
37. Health and labor outcomes
Evidence continued
Using different health measures
(morbidities, ADLs, health limitations)
ADLs = Activities of daily living
Can you walk 5km without getting tired
Can you lift a 2 pound weight
Days of limited activity
Find poor health reduces labor supply
Evidence of poor health on wages and
productivity is mixed.
38. Health and labor outcomes
Evidence continued
Used ADLs to explain labor force participation in
Jamaica and Taiwan
Participation = f(ADLs)
In Indonesia they used a randomized experiment
Treatment areas: price of health care increased
Control areas: price of health care remained same
Find increases in price lead to decrease in utilization and
worsening ADLs
Find worsening of ADLs lead to lower male labor supply
But find that self reported health status is better in
treatment areas
Self reported health status likely to be worse among those
who have greater access to the health system (concept of
illness)
39. Health and labor outcomes
Evidence continued
Lots of evidence to suggest that better
nutrition leads to better health outcomes
Low nutrition intakes impacts productivity
negatively
Not just the calories or protein you eat it is also
the quality of the calories. Need micro-nutrients,
e.g., iron and vitamin A for the brain to function
properly.
Policy implication is iron fortification of flour and
fortifying milk with vitamin A.
40. General comments
Income generating capacity of the poorest is enhanced
more by some health sector investments relative to
others.
Need to look at the how policies affect different groups and
streamline policies so they are appropriate for each group.
More emphasis on preventable diseases in developing
countries needed, yet you’ll see a lot of money is put
toward high tech cancer wards in some of these
countries.
If public investment in health infrastructure and
interventions yields benefits in terms of higher
productivity and economic growth, then those benefits
belong in evaluations of health programs.