Health and Growth

• Does investing in health raise economic growth?
• Can governments achieve rapid growth or high incomes without investing in health?
• What are the options and benefits of different analytic approaches to measuring the causal link between health and growth?
• Have medical advances influenced life expectancy levels?
• Do health investments lead to higher individual productivity?
• Why are investments in early childhood development and nutrition important?
• How do governments invest in improving health status?
• Where should governments invest in health to improve the welfare and health status of the population?
• What are the pitfalls in public health care provision and finance?
• How can public investments raise health status and household productivity?

This book has been prepared for the Commission on Growth and Development to evaluate the state of knowledge on the relationship between health and economic growth. It does not pretend to provide all the answers, but it does review the evidence as well as identify insights and policy levers to help countries pinpoint critical health investments that can enhance and strengthen national growth strategies. It examines a variety of topics including policy imperatives in assessing the benefits of health investments, the methodological challenges in measuring the link between health and economic growth at the macroeconomic level, and the nature of the evidence on the types and timing of interventions that promote health, productivity, and earnings.

Written by prominent academics in their fields, 'Health and Growth' seeks to create a better understanding of the role of health investments in growth and to inform policy makers of the benefi ts and pitfalls of alternative scenarios.