Government health expenditures and health outcome nexus: a study on OECD countries

IntroductionThe consistent increase in health expenditures is an integral part of health policy. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of health expenditures on health outcomes in the OECD countries. MethodWe used the system generalized method of moments (GMM) for thirty eight OECD countries using panel data from 1996 to 2020. Results and discussionThe findings show that health expenditures have a negative impact on infant mortality while positive on life expectancy. The results further verify that the income measured as GDP, number of doctors, and air pollution has a negative effect on infant mortality, while these variables have a positive effect on life expectancy in the studied countries. The outcome of the study suggests that health expenditures need to be properly utilized and improvements can be made in the health policies to increase the investment in health technology. The government should also focus on measures like economic and environmental to have long-lasting health outcomes.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of health expenditures on health outcomes in OECD countries. The findings show that health expenditures have a negative impact on infant mortality while positive on life expectancy. The study suggests the need for proper utilization of health expenditures and improvements in health policies to increase investment in health technology, as well as focusing on economic and environmental measures for long-lasting health outcomes.