Health and Prosperity: Efficient Health Systems for Thriving Nations in the 21st Century

by Fabrice Murtin

Overview

Murtin examines the long-term causes of health improvements over the last two centuries. Focusing on the relative importance of income and education, Murtin finds that education alone accounts for the bulk of health improvements since 1870, and explains the strong correlation between longevity and income, which is highly correlated with education. Conversely, the book shows that progress in longevity has had dramatic consequences on societies, as it reduced fertility, triggered the spread of education, spurred economic growth, and improved 'prosperity' in a way that is comparable to the long-term rise in income. Health and Prosperity sheds light on the real cost of health systems in the 21st century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137577207
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	11/11/2015
Edition description:	1st ed. 2016
Pages:	158
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

Fabrice Murtin is an economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Associate Researcher at Sciences-Po Paris, France. His research focuses on the historical determinants of economic development and has been published in many academic journals such as the Journal of Economic Growth, the Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic Policy, European Economic Review, the Journal of Human Capital and the Journal of Economic Inequality.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART I: THE HEALTH OF NATIONS SINCE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
1. Global Trends in Life Expectancy 1820-2050
1.1. Trends in life expectancy at birth
1.2. Convergence in life expectancy
1.3. Convergence in infant mortality
2. The Age Structure of Life expectancy
2.1. The age-profile of mortality rates
2.2. The burden of infant mortality
2.3. Trends in mortality by age since the 1960s
3. Trends in Morbidity
3.1. A long-term perspective on morbidity in the United States
3.2. Morbidity trends among OECD countries since 1960
3.3. Global Patterns of Morbidity
PART II: THE DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH PROGRESS AFTER THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
1. A Review of Health Determinants
1.1. The case of OECD countries
1.2. Technological Progress in Medicine
1.3. Income and healthcare expenditures
1.4. Risk factors and education
2. Historical Determinants of the Health Transition
2.1. Health and development in historical perspective
2.2. What factors have driven the health transition?
PART III: THE CONSEQUENCES OF HEALTH IMPROVEMENT
1. Theoretical Framework
2. What factors explain the spread of mass education since 1870?
2.1. The spread of mass education since 1870
2.2. The potential factors at play
2.3. What does the data say?
3. What factors explain the fertility transition?
3.1. Historical Trends in Fertility
3.2. The replacement effect and the influence of modernization
3.3. Unveiling the correlations
3.4. Assessing causal effects
4. Fertility and longevity taken together: explaining the dynamics of population growth
4.1. The Kuznets curve of population growth
4.2. The determinants of population growth
5. The other consequences of health improvement
5.1. Saving
5.2. Total Factor Productivity
PART IV: HEALTH AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
1. The Macroeconomics of Health and Economic Growth
1.1. A Growth Accounting Framework
1.2. The adverse effect of health improvements in a Malthusian Economy
1.3. Health and endogenous growth
2. The Empirical Relationship Between Health and Growth
2.1. When Lucas meets Nelson-Phelps
2.2. Instrumental strategy and robustness tests
2.3. The case of OECD countries
PART V: THE COST OF HEALTH
1. Health Systems Among OECD Countries
1.1. Health outcomes
1.2. Health expenditures
1.3. Organizational features
2. Towards efficient health systems
2.1. The economic determinants of health expenditures
2.1. The policy determinants of health expenditures
2.3. Institutions and the efficiency of health systems
3. France as a case-study
3.1. Fighting stark health inequalities
3.2. Improving cost-efficiency
PART VI: HEALTH AND PROSPERITY
1. Prosperity Beyond GDP
1.1. The value of life
1.2. Defining prosperity
2. Global Prosperity over Time
Conclusion
References

Editorial Reviews

'A great and timely contribution to our better understanding of the spectacular transition toward long and healthy lives and of its implications for productivity and well-being.' Marc Fleurbaey, Robert E. Kuenne Professor, Princeton University, USA

'This book is a must read for any scholar or policy maker interested in growth and development.' Philippe Aghion, Harvard University, USA

'Building on a wealth of new data and evidences, the book demonstrates, against the skeptics, that progress in health has played a critical causal role on economic development at large.' Daniel Cohen, Professor of Economics, Ecole normale supérieure and Paris School of Economics, France

'Murtin's book offers a clear, concise, and yet rather exhaustive view of the relationship between health and development, its major contribution probably being the evidence it provides on the key role of education in that relationship.' François Bourguignon, former World Bank Chief Economist

From the Publisher