IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/amerec/v49y2005i2p60-66.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Determinants of Health Status in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ssa)

Author

Listed:
  • Bichaka Fayissa
  • Paulos Gutema

Abstract

This study examines the determinants of health status (as measured by life expectancy at birth) in SSA based on the Grossman (1972) theoretical model which considers the economic (the ratio of health expenditure to GDP and the per capita food availability index), social (the illiteracy rate and alcohol consumption), and environmental factors (urbanization rate and carbon dioxide emission per capita index). The coefficients of the health status function are estimated by one-way and two-way panel data analyses. The two-way random-effect model results suggest that a decrease in illiteracy rate and an increase in the food availability index are well positively associated with improvements in life expectancy at birth. Overall results also suggest that a health policy that may focus on the provision of health services, family planning programs, and emergency aids to the exclusion of other demographic issues may serve little in schemes aimed at improving the current health status of the region.

Suggested Citation

  • Bichaka Fayissa & Paulos Gutema, 2005. "The Determinants of Health Status in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ssa)," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 49(2), pages 60-66, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:amerec:v:49:y:2005:i:2:p:60-66
    DOI: 10.1177/056943450504900207
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/056943450504900207
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/056943450504900207?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Thornton, 2002. "Estimating a health production function for the US: some new evidence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 59-62.
    2. Grossman, Michael, 2004. "The demand for health, 30 years later: a very personal retrospective and prospective reflection," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 629-636, July.
    3. Mark C. Berger & J. Paul Leigh, 1989. "Schooling, Self-Selection, and Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 24(3), pages 433-455.
    4. Schultz, T. Paul, 2004. "Health economics and applications in developing countries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 637-641, July.
    5. Michael Grossman, 1972. "The Demand for Health: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gros72-1, March.
    6. Victor R. Fuchs, 2018. "Reflections on the Socio-Economic Correlates of Health," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Health Economics and Policy Selected Writings by Victor Fuchs, chapter 10, pages 115-124, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Behrman, Jere R. & Deolalikar, Anil B., 1988. "Health and nutrition," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 14, pages 631-711, Elsevier.
    8. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Schultz, T Paul, 1983. "Estimating a Household Production Function: Heterogeneity, the Demand for Health Inputs, and Their Effects on Birth Weight," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(5), pages 723-746, October.
    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. Issam Khelfaoui & Yuantao Xie & Muhammad Hafeez & Danish Ahmed & Houssem Eddine Degha & Hicham Meskher, 2022. "Information Communication Technology and Infant Mortality in Low-Income Countries: Empirical Study Using Panel Data Models," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-24, June.
    2. Olusanya Ajakaiye & Tayo Fakiyesi & Mutiu Oyinlola, 2009. "Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on the Social Services Sector in Ghana and Nigeria," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 10(4), pages 36-42, January.
    3. Jeffrey Kouton & Rafiou R. Bétila & Moïse Lawin, 2021. "The Impact of ICT Development on Health Outcomes in Africa: Does Economic Freedom Matter?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(4), pages 1830-1869, December.
    4. Faisal Abbas & Haroon Sarwar Awan, 2018. "What Determines Health Status of Population in Pakistan?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 1-23, August.

    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. Gilleskie, Donna B. & Harrison, Amy L., 1998. "The effect of endogenous health inputs on the relationship between health and education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 279-295, June.
    2. Bichaka Fayissa & Paulos Gutema, 2008. "A Health Production Function for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)," Working Papers 200808, Middle Tennessee State University, Department of Economics and Finance.
    3. Donald Kenkel & Dean Lillard & Alan Mathios, 2006. "The Roles of High School Completion and GED Receipt in Smoking and Obesity," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 635-660, July.
    4. Contoyannis, Paul & Jones, Andrew M., 2004. "Socio-economic status, health and lifestyle," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 965-995, September.
    5. Demydas, Tetyana, 2013. "Lifestyle factors, dietary quality and health: Econometric evidence from US micro data," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement (RAEStud), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 94(2).
    6. Spiteri, Jonathan & von Brockdorff, Philip, 2019. "Economic development and health outcomes: Evidence from cardiovascular disease mortality in Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 37-44.
    7. Bichaka Fayissa & Anca Traian, 2013. "Estimation of a Health Production Function: Evidence from East-European Countries," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 58(2), pages 134-148, November.
    8. Mwabu, Germano, 2007. "Health Economics for Low-Income Countries," Center Discussion Papers 10118, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    9. Lurås, Hilde, 2009. "A healthy lifestyle: The product of opportunities and preferences," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2001:11, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.
    10. Hunt-McCool, Janet & Bishop, Dawn M., 1998. "Health economics and the economics of education: specialization and division of labor," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 237-244, June.
    11. Variyam, Jayachandran N. & Blaylock, James R. & Smallwood, David, 1997. "Diet-Health Information and Nutrition: The Intake of Dietary Fats and Cholesterol," Technical Bulletins 156800, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    12. Tansel, Aysit & Karaoglan, Deniz, 2014. "Health behaviors and education in Turkey," MPRA Paper 57322, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Jul 2014.
    13. Albouy, Valerie & Lequien, Laurent, 2009. "Does compulsory education lower mortality?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 155-168, January.
    14. Angulo, Ana María & Barberán, Ramón & Egea, Pilar & Mur, Jesús, 2011. "An analysis of health expenditure on a microdata population basis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 169-180.
    15. García-Muñoz, Teresa & Neuman, Shoshana & Neuman, Tzahi, 2014. "Health Risk Factors among the Older European Populations: Personal and Country Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 8529, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Rodolfo Nayga, 2001. "Effect of Schooling on Obesity: Is Health Knowledge a Moderating Factor?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 129-137.
    17. Eric A. BONDZIE, 2016. "Effect of Smoking and other Economic Variables on Wages in the Euro Area," Journal of Economics Bibliography, KSP Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 38-52, March.
    18. Khanam, Rasheda & Nghiem, Hong Son & Connelly, Luke B., 2009. "Child health and the income gradient: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 805-817, July.
    19. Etilé, Fabrice & Jones, Andrew M., 2011. "Schooling and smoking among the baby boomers - An evaluation of the impact of educational expansion in France," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 811-831, July.
    20. Mocan, H. Naci & Tekin, Erdal & Zax, Jeffrey S., 2004. "The Demand for Medical Care in Urban China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 289-304, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:sae:amerec:v:49:y:2005:i:2:p:60-66. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/aex .

    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.