Working Paper: NBER ID: w19685
Authors: Dora Costa
Abstract: I discuss the health transition in the United States, bringing new data to bear on health indicators, and investigating the changing relationship between health, income, and the environment. I argue that scientific advances played an outsize role and that health improvements were largest among the poor. Health improvements were not a precondition for modern economic growth. The gains to health are largest when the economy has moved from "brawn" to "brains" because this is when the wage returns to education are high, leading the healthy to obtain more education. More education may improve use of health knowledge, producing a virtuous cycle.
Keywords: health transition; economic growth; public health; socioeconomic status; scientific advances
JEL Codes: I10; N30
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| scientific advances (O33) | health outcomes (I14) |
| public health initiatives (I14) | health outcomes (I14) |
| health outcomes (I14) | economic growth (O49) |
| rising incomes (E25) | health outcomes (I14) |
| education (I29) | health outcomes (I14) |
| health outcomes (I14) | educational attainment (I21) |
| health improvements (I14) | productivity (O49) |
| health improvements (I14) | economic growth (O49) |
| health improvements (I14) | higher educational attainment (I23) |