IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v40y2012i1p21-35.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Best Things in Life are (Nearly) Free: Technology, Knowledge, and Global Health

Author

Listed:
  • Casabonne, Ursula
  • Kenny, Charles

Abstract

This paper argues that there are two major factors underlying improved global health outcomes. These are, first, the discovery of cheap technologies that can dramatically improve outcomes and, second, the adoption of these technologies thanks to the spread of knowledge. Other factors have played a role. Increased income not only allows for improved nutrition, but also helps to improve access to more complex preventative technologies. Institutional development is a second key to the spread of such complex technologies. Nonetheless, evidence of dramatic health improvements even in environments of weak institutions and stagnant incomes suggests that the role of these factors may be secondary.

Suggested Citation

  • Casabonne, Ursula & Kenny, Charles, 2012. "The Best Things in Life are (Nearly) Free: Technology, Knowledge, and Global Health," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 21-35.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:1:p:21-35
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.05.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X11001392
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.05.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Björkman, Martina & Reinikka, Ritva & Svensson, Jakob, 2006. "Local Accountability," Seminar Papers 749, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
    2. Soares, Rodrigo R., 2007. "Health and the evolution of welfare across Brazilian municipalities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 590-608, November.
    3. O'Donnell, Owen & Nicolás, Ángel López & Van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2009. "Growing richer and taller: Explaining change in the distribution of child nutritional status during Vietnam's economic boom," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 45-58, January.
    4. Rodrigo R. Soares, 2007. "On the Determinants of Mortality Reductions in the Developing World," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 33(2), pages 247-287, June.
    5. William Easterly & Ross Levine, 1997. "Africa's Growth Tragedy: Policies and Ethnic Divisions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1203-1250.
    6. Angus S. Deaton, 2006. "Global Patterns of Income and Health: Facts, Interpretations, and Policies," Working Papers id:777, eSocialSciences.
    7. Oster, Emily, 2012. "HIV and sexual behavior change: Why not Africa?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 35-49.
    8. Jack, William & Lewis, Maureen, 2009. "Health investments and economic growth : macroeconomic evidence and microeconomic foundations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4877, The World Bank.
    9. Mayer-Foulkes, David, 2008. "The Human Development Trap in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 775-796, May.
    10. Angus Deaton, 2004. "Health in an Age of Globalization," NBER Working Papers 10669, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. William Easterly, 2007. "Was Development Assistance a Mistake?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 328-332, May.
    12. Maarten Lindeboom & France Portrait & Gerard J. van den Berg, 2003. "Individual Mortality and Macro Economic Conditions from Birth to Death," CEIS Research Paper 42, Tor Vergata University, CEIS.
    13. Moradi, Alexander, 2010. "Nutritional status and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa, 1950-1980," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 16-29, March.
    14. David Cutler & Angus Deaton & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2006. "The Determinants of Mortality," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 97-120, Summer.
    15. repec:pri:cheawb:deaton_healthglobalage is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Wagstaff, Adam, 2003. "Child health on a dollar a day: some tentative cross-country comparisons," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(9), pages 1529-1538, November.
    17. Alexandra Beith & Rena Eichler & Diana Weil, 2007. "Performance-Based Incentives for Health: A Way to Improve Tuberculosis Detection and Treatment Completion?," Working Papers 122, Center for Global Development.
    18. World Bank, 2006. "World Development Indicators 2006," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 8151, December.
    19. Gustav RANIS & Frances STEWART, 2001. "Growth And Human Development: Comparative Latin American Experience," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 39(4), pages 333-365, December.
    20. Birchenall, Javier A., 2007. "Economic Development and the Escape from High Mortality," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 543-568, April.
    21. Jenkins, Marion W. & Scott, Beth, 2007. "Behavioral indicators of household decision-making and demand for sanitation and potential gains from social marketing in Ghana," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 2427-2442, June.
    22. Lant Pritchett & Lawrence H. Summers, 1996. "Wealthier is Healthier," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(4), pages 841-868.
    23. James C. Riley, 2005. "The Timing and Pace of Health Transitions around the World," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 31(4), pages 741-764, December.
    24. Logan, Trevon D., 2009. "The Transformation of Hunger: The Demand for Calories Past and Present," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(2), pages 388-408, June.
    25. Michael Clemens, 2004. "The Long Walk to School: International Education Goals in Historical Perspective," Working Papers 37, Center for Global Development.
    26. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2010. "Aging and Death under a Dollar a Day," NBER Chapters, in: Research Findings in the Economics of Aging, pages 169-203, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Clemens, Michael A. & Kenny, Charles J. & Moss, Todd J., 2007. "The Trouble with the MDGs: Confronting Expectations of Aid and Development Success," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 735-751, May.
    28. Kiessling, Johan, 2007. "Democratization and Child Mortality," Research Papers in Economics 2007:8, Stockholm University, Department of Economics, revised 11 Nov 2007.
    29. McGuire, James W., 2001. "Social Policy and Mortality Decline in East Asia and Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(10), pages 1673-1697, October.
    30. Chris Papageorgiou & Shankha Chakraborty, 2005. "Diseases and Development," Departmental Working Papers 2005-12, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    31. Filmer, Deon & Hammer, Jeffrey S & Pritchett, Lant H, 2000. "Weak Links in the Chain: A Diagnosis of Health Policy in Poor Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 15(2), pages 199-224, August.
    32. Easterly, William, 1999. "Life during Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 239-276, September.
    33. Sonia Bhalotra, 2007. "Spending to save? State health expenditure and infant mortality in India," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(9), pages 911-928, September.
    34. Jie Zhang & Junsen Zhang, 2005. "The Effect of Life Expectancy on Fertility, Saving, Schooling and Economic Growth: Theory and Evidence," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 107(1), pages 45-66, March.
    35. Levine, David I. & Rothman, Dov, 2006. "Does trade affect child health?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 538-554, May.
    36. Emily Oster, 2005. "Sexually Transmitted Infections, Sexual Behavior, and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 467-515.
    37. Peter Boone & Zhaoguo Zhan, 2006. "Lowering Child Mortality in Poor Countries: The Power of Knowledgeable Parents," CEP Discussion Papers dp0751, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    38. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson, 2007. "Disease and Development: The Effect of Life Expectancy on Economic Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(6), pages 925-985, December.
    39. Kenny, Charles, 2005. "Why Are We Worried About Income? Nearly Everything that Matters is Converging," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-19, January.
    40. Robert E. Lucas, 2000. "Some Macroeconomics for the 21st Century," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 159-168, Winter.
    41. Charles Kenny, 2009. "There's more to life than money: Exploring the levels|growth paradox in income and health," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(1), pages 24-41.
    42. Marianne Fay & Danny Leipziger & Quentin Wodon & Tito Yepes, 2003. "Achieving the Millennium Development Goals : The role of infrastructure," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3163, The World Bank.
    43. Maya Federman & David I. Levine, 2005. "Industrialization and Infant Mortality," Development and Comp Systems 0504008, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    44. repec:pri:rpdevs:deaton_healthglobalage is not listed on IDEAS
    45. repec:pri:cheawb:deaton_healthglobalage.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    46. David E. Bloom & David Canning, 2008. "Population Health and Economic Growth," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28036, December.
    47. Fay, Marianne & Leipziger, Danny & Wodon, Quentin & Yepes, Tito, 2005. "Achieving child-health-related Millennium Development Goals: The role of infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1267-1284, August.
    48. Baldacci, Emanuele & Clements, Benedict & Gupta, Sanjeev & Cui, Qiang, 2008. "Social Spending, Human Capital, and Growth in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1317-1341, August.
    49. Hertz, Erica & Hebert, James R. & Landon, Joan, 1994. "Social and environmental factors and life expectancy, infant mortality, and maternal mortality rates: Results of a cross-national comparison," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 105-114, July.
    50. Ellen van de Poel & Owen O'Donnell & Eddy van Doorslaer, 2007. "Are Urban Children really healthier?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-035/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    51. repec:pri:cheawb:deaton_wider_final_annual_lecture_all is not listed on IDEAS
    52. Baird, Sarah & Friedman, Jed & Schady, Norbert, 2007. "Infant mortality over the business cycle in the developing world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4346, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dave, Dhaval & Doytch, Nadia & Kelly, Inas Rashad, 2016. "Nutrient intake: A cross-national analysis of trends and economic correlates," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 158-167.
    2. Sandiford, P. & Vivas Consuelo, D. & Rouse, P. & Bramley, D., 2018. "The trade-off between equity and efficiency in population health gain: Making it real," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 136-144.
    3. Whittington, Dale & Jeuland, Marc & Barker, Kate & Yuen, Yvonne, 2012. "Setting Priorities, Targeting Subsidies among Water, Sanitation, and Preventive Health Interventions in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1546-1568.
    4. Gherhes, Cristian & Yu, Zhen & Vorley, Tim & Xue, Lan, 2023. "Technological trajectories as an outcome of the structure-agency interplay at the national level: Insights from emerging varieties of AI," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    5. Hecock, R. Douglas & Jepsen, Eric M., 2013. "Should Countries Engage in a Race to the Bottom? The Effect of Social Spending on FDI," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 156-164.
    6. Cristia, Julian & Prado, Ariadna García & Peluffo, Cecilia, 2015. "The Impact of Contracting in and Contracting out Basic Health Services: The Guatemalan Experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 215-227.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. William Easterly, 2009. "Can the West Save Africa?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 373-447, June.
    2. Yusuf, Shahid & Nabeshima, Kaoru & Wei Ha, 2007. "What makes cities healthy ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4107, The World Bank.
    3. Clemens, Michael A. & Kenny, Charles J. & Moss, Todd J., 2007. "The Trouble with the MDGs: Confronting Expectations of Aid and Development Success," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 735-751, May.
    4. Charles Kenny, 2009. "There's more to life than money: Exploring the levels|growth paradox in income and health," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(1), pages 24-41.
    5. Weil, David N., 2014. "Health and Economic Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 3, pages 623-682, Elsevier.
    6. Bhalotra, Sonia, 2010. "Fatal fluctuations? Cyclicality in infant mortality in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 7-19, September.
    7. Stephan Klasen & Simon Lange, 2011. "Getting Progress Right: Measuring Progress Towards the MDGs Against Historical Trends," Courant Research Centre: Poverty, Equity and Growth - Discussion Papers 87, Courant Research Centre PEG, revised 20 Feb 2012.
    8. Juliana Jaramillo-Echeverri & Adolfo Meisel-Roca & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo, 2019. "More than 100 years of improvements in living standards: the case of Colombia," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 13(3), pages 323-366, September.
    9. Juliana Jaramillo-Echeverri & Adolfo Meisel-Roca & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo, 2017. "More than One Hundred Years of Improvements in Living Standards: the Case of Colombia," Borradores de Economia 1027, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    10. Adolfo Meisel-Roca & Juliana Jaramillo-Echeverri & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo, 2018. "Más de cien años de avances en el nivel de vida: El caso de Colombia," Cuadernos de Historia Económica 46, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    11. Hansen, Casper Worm, 2013. "The diffusion of health technologies: Cultural and biological divergence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 21-34.
    12. Alan Martina, 2007. "A Class of Poverty Traps: A Theory and Empirical Tests," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 2007-482, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
    13. Mishra, Prachi & Newhouse, David, 2009. "Does health aid matter?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 855-872, July.
    14. Francesco Ricci & Marios Zachariadis, 2013. "Education Externalities on Longevity," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 80(319), pages 404-440, July.
    15. David Canning, 2012. "Progress in Health around the World," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(12), pages 1784-1798, December.
    16. Kenny, Charles, 2005. "Why Are We Worried About Income? Nearly Everything that Matters is Converging," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-19, January.
    17. Rodrigo R. Soares, 2007. "On the Determinants of Mortality Reductions in the Developing World," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 33(2), pages 247-287, June.
    18. Amy Ickowitz, 2012. "Wealthiest Is Not Always Healthiest: What Explains Differences in Child Mortality in West Africa?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 21(2), pages 192-227, March.
    19. Prados de la Escosura, Leandro, 2023. "Health, income, and the preston curve: A long view," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    20. Charles KENNY, 2008. "What's Not Converging? East Asia's Relative Performance in Income, Health, and Education," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 3(1), pages 19-37, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:1:p:21-35. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.