Malmberg, Bo () (Institute for Futures Studies) Andersson, Eva (Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF))
Abstract
Is health a forgotten factor in regional economic development? The health or ill health of the European workforce is a crucial issue as the share of old age people as well as the mean age increases. A second reason for this paper is the increased interest in the relation between health and productivity of businesses. Ill health might in this respect be a factor of severe disadvantage for regions to improve their economic performance. A third motive is policy considerations; policies directed to reduce ill health could be considered as an important tool in regional development. In order to explore health as a factor for regional economic development in Sweden we used regional as well as micro level data. The results consistently highlight health as an important determinant of regional economic performance. It is first revealed through a strong correlation in regional data between health levels and economic performance. Healthy municipalities generally have a stronger local economy than those characterised by ill health. In addition a negative effect of ill health is demonstrated in Swedish micro data. In case of sickness in our control group, both the individuals themselves, their spouses, children and colleagues are negatively affected.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for Futures Studies in its series Arbetsrapport with number
2006:4.
Length: 34 pages Date of creation: Apr 2006 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:hhs:ifswps:2006_004
Note: ISSN 1652-120X; ISBN 13:978-91-89655-87-4; ISBN 10:91-89655-87-7 Contact details of provider: Postal: Institute for Futures Studies, Box 591, SE-101 31 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: 08-402 12 00 Fax: 08-24 50 14 Email: Web page: http://www.framtidsstudier.se More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Taeda Tomic).
Find related papers by JEL classification: I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General R11 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Analysis of Growth, Development, and Changes R13 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
Did you know? All full texts are decentralized with the publishers, none reside on this server, thus making it possible to offer this service for free to all parties.