Helje Kaldaru () (Department of Economics, University of Tartu) Kaie Kerem () (Department of Economics at Tallinn University of Technology) Andres Võrk () (Department of Economics, University of Tartu)
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to analyze the relationship between health and economic growth in Estonia. Health determines the quality of the human capital, which modern economic theories consider the principal factor of economic growth. On the basis of survey data we estimate the effect of self-assessed health on labor supply and wages applying econometric methods. We find that poor health is significantly related to lower wages and employment probability. We also calculate average days and hours lost from work due to ill health or injury in 2001. The plausible direct loss in GDP due to health problems is about 1-2 per cent. We conclude that although health has had overall a marginal effect on economic growth during the transition period, it is still important and its impact may increase in the future, when the population’s health capital deteriorates further as a result of the population getting older and young generations having damaging health behavior.
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 School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology in its series Working Papers with number
110.
Length: 14 Date of creation: 2004 Date of revision: Publication status: Published in Working Papers in Economics.School of Economics and Business Administration,Tallinn University of Technology (TUTWPE), Pages 103-116 Handle: RePEc:ttu:wpaper:110
Note: This research was conducted with support from the Estonian Science Foundation (Research Grants 5369 and 5083). Contact details of provider: Postal: Kopli tn. 101, 11712 Tallinn Phone: +(372)620 3535 Fax: +(372)620 3946 Email: Web page: http://majandus.ttu.ee More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Urve Venesaar).
Find related papers by JEL classification: I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.: