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Business & Economics

LIFE EXPECTANCY AND SPECIFIC CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN TERMS OF GENDER INEQUALITIES IN RELATION TO ECONOMIC GROWTH⁵
Robert Stefko, Beata Gavurova, Martin Rigelsky, Viera Ivankova

ABSTRACT. A healthy population is an economic value for countries. In order to ensure long-term prosperity, it is important to understand the main factors that affect countries' economic growth. The present study answers the questions of whether the relations between economic growth and gender inequalities in health are significant. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the relations between gender health inequalities and economic growth in OECD countries. The analyses included life expectancy (four variables) and specific causes of mortality (twelve variables) as health variables used in the male and female variants. Economic growth was expressed in the gross domestic product (GDP) per head of population, per hour worked and per person employed. The data were obtained from OECD databases from 2010 to 2016. The analytical process included descriptive analysis, analysis of gender differences (Wilcoxon Test) in health, regression analysis (OLS), analysis of relationships (Spearman ρ) between economic growth and gender inequalities in health, and cluster analysis (Ward). The analysis of the differences between men and women confirmed a significant difference in the vast majority of specific causes of mortality as well as life expectancy. In most cases, women had more positive health outcomes than men. The most important findings of this study confirmed the significant economic effects of gender inequalities in health. As a result, an increase in economic growth can be expected, if gender inequalities in health are reduced. Regarding the assessment of economic outcomes and gender inequalities in health outcomes, the cluster analysis revealed that Luxembourg, Norway and Ireland are the highest rated countries, while the worst-rated countries are Mexico, Lithuania and Latvia. These are the three countries that have great potential for improvement. In conclusion, the economic effect of health inequalities is undeniable. Therefore, policy efforts at both the regional and national level should focus on reducing health inequalities, especially on the part of men.

KEYWORDS:  economic growth; gender; health inequalities; life expectancy, mortality, OECD, regression analysis, cluster analysis.

JEL classification:  I14, O47, C30.

⁵Acknowledgements:  This research was funded by the Grant Agency of the University of Prešov under Contract No. GaPU28/2020.
This research was supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy Sciences as part of the research project VEGA 1/0797/20: Quantification of Environmental Burden Impacts of the Slovak Regions on Health, Social and Economic System of the Slovak Republic. Disclosure statement. Authors declare that they do not have any competing financial, professional, or personal interests from other parties .