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Disease and Development Revisited

Author

Listed:
  • David E. Bloom

    (Harvard School of Public Health)

  • David Canning

    (Harvard School of Public Health)

  • Gunther Fink

    (Harvard School of Public Health)

Abstract

In a recent paper, Acemoglu and Johnson (2007) argue that the large increases in population health witnessed in the 20th century may have lowered income levels. We argue that this result depends crucially on their assumption that initial health and income do not affect subsequent economic growth. Using their data we reject this assumption in favor of a model of conditional convergence, with income adjusting to its steady state over time. We show that, allowing for conditional convergence, exogenous improvements in health due to technical advances associated with the epidemiological transition appear to have increased income levels.

Suggested Citation

  • David E. Bloom & David Canning & Gunther Fink, 2009. "Disease and Development Revisited," PGDA Working Papers 4409, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
  • Handle: RePEc:gdm:wpaper:4409
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Disease; development; economic growth; health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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