Health quality, labour productivity and economic growth in Sub-Saharan African Countries (1990 – 2012)
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Date
2014
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Economics,Obafemi Awolowo University
Abstract
This study examined the trends of health quality (longevity and disease), labour productivity and economic growth in Sub-Saharan African countries. It also investigated the causal relationships and threshold effects among longevity, labour productivity and economic growth, and determined the effects of HIV and TB on longevity of Sub-Saharan Africans. The study further analyzed the effect of health quality on labour productivity and economic growth between 1990 and 2012. This was with a view to examining how health quality (longevity and disease) affects the nature of relationship between labour productivity and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Secondary data were employed in this study. Data on life expectancy at birth, incidence of tuberculosis (TB), prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, urban population, access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities, for the period 1990 to 2012 were sourced from World Development Indicators (WDI) published by World Bank. The study covered 38 of the 48 countries in SSA due to data availability. The study used descriptive statistics, Hansen (1999) panel threshold test, vector autoregressive (VAR) multivariate Granger causality test and 2-step System Generalized Method of Moments (system – GMM) in analyzing the data.
The results showed that the upsurge in the prevalence rate of HIV and TB diseases between 1990 and 2000 was the main challenge to health quality in SSA countries, thereby forcing longevity into downward trend. Also, between 1990 and 2012, 34% of the SSA countries had downward trend in labour productivity, while 39% had downward trend in economic growth. The results further showed that a unidirectional causality running from longevity to labour productivity (F=32.83, p<0.05), a unidirectional causality running from longevity to economic growth (F=30.16, p<0.05) and bidirectional causality running between labour productivity and economic growth (F=27.51; 57.62, p<0.05). Also, the threshold point estimate in the relationship between longevity and labour productivity was 46.7 years (F=82.20, p<0.05) and between longevity and economic growth was 67.5 years (F=33.39, p<0.05). HIV disease had negative effect on longevity (t=-3.09, p<0.05), TB disease had negative effect on labour productivity (t=-2.29, p<0.05); thus forming disease-trap for longevity and labour productivity in SSA. Also, longevity had a positive effect on labour productivity (t=2.04, p<0.05) and economic growth in non-linear model specification (t=3.37, p<0.05).
The study concluded that HIV disease had significant damaging effect on health quality and tuberculosis disease had a significant impeding effect on labour productivity, while longevity was an increasing function of labour productivity and economic growth with the significant threshold effects at ages 46.7 years on labour productivity and 67.5 years on economic growth.
Description
xvii,203p
Keywords
Economic growth, HIv diseases, Labour productivity, Labour
Citation
Adedeji,A.O (2014) Health quality, labour productivity and economic growth in Sub-Saharan African Countries (1990 – 2012) Obafemi Awolowo University