Nonlinear Effects of Income Inequality and Modern Technologies on Public Health in Selected Countries
Keywords:
Income inequality, new technologies, health, threshold panel approach modelAbstract
The present article aims to examine the nonlinear effects of income inequality and modern technologies on public health in selected countries. For this purpose, the Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) model was applied using annual data from selected developed and developing countries during the period 2010–2023. Based on the results, a one-unit increase in research and development expenditures, the technology development index, per capita income, gross fixed capital formation, and human capital respectively leads to an increase of 0.14, 0.13, 0.37, 0.26, and 0.46 units in the public health index in developed countries, and 0.09, 0.10, 0.15, 0.27, and 0.22 units in developing countries. Furthermore, a one-unit increase in unemployment, income inequality, and the inflation rate respectively leads to a decrease of 0.07, 0.002, and 0.08 units in the public health index in developed countries, and 0.31, 0.23, and 0.15 units in developing countries. Individuals’ access to higher levels of education, population growth, high unemployment, and inflation—beyond their effects on income levels and income distribution—can also influence quality of life, thereby improving or worsening health conditions in society. On the other hand, with an increase in literacy rates and, consequently, public awareness, individuals can play a more effective role in society and thereby achieve higher income levels. Considering the obtained results and given that income equality plays a significant role in human development and, consequently, in comprehensive development, it is recommended that policymakers pay special attention to the implementation of fair income distribution policies.
Downloads
References
Adejumo, O. O., Asongu, S. A., & Adejumo, A. V. (2021). Education enrolment rate vs employment rate: Implications for sustainable human capital development in Nigeria. International Journal of Educational Development, 83, 102385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102385
Akinwale, Y. O. (2021). Health expenditure, economic growth and life expectancy at birth in resource rich developing countries: a case of Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Journal of Economic Cooperation and Development, 42(2), 1-22.
Bahrami, M. A., Pakdaman, M., Ranjbar, M., Yousefzadeh, S., Kazemi Nasab, M., Izadi, R., & Mokhtari, M. (2019). The Impact of Selected Health, Environmental, and Economic Indicators on Health Expenditures in Developed and Developing Countries. Health Management Strategies, 2(1), 8-20.
Barro, R. (1996). Determinants of economic growth: a cross-country empirical study. https://doi.org/10.3386/w5698
Canbay, Ş., & Kırca, M. (2022). Health expenditures (total, public and private) and per capita income in the BRICS+ T: panel bootstrap causality analysis. Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEFAS-06-2021-0105
Daghighi, A., & Abdolsalami, M. (2018). The Role of Good Governance in the Impact of Government Expenditures on the Health Sector: A Case Study of Selected Developing Countries. Economic Journal (Bi-Monthly Review of Economic Issues and Policies), 18(3-4), 5-21.
Esen, E., & Çelik Keçili, M. (2021). Economic growth and health expenditure analysis for Turkey: Evidence from time series. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-021-00789-8
Gaies, B. (2022). Reassessing the impact of health expenditure on income growth in the face of the global sanitary crisis: the case of developing countries. The European Journal of Health Economics, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-022-01433-1
Goh, J. J. K. (2025). Sustainable Health Systems and Public Health. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1788-0_34-1
Gulzar, R., & Ahmed, N. (2022). Nexuses between Economic Growth and Health Indicators: Evidence from Pakistan. Journal of Economic Sciences, 1(2), 137-151. https://doi.org/10.55603/jes.v1i2.a5
Haregu, T., Kwaśnicka, D., Shrestha, A., Lynch, C., Absetz, P., Miranda, J. J., Vu, G. T., & Oldenburg, B. (2025). Improving the Sustainability of Public Health Interventions: The INNOVATE Model. Global Implementation Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43477-025-00149-7
Hatak, I., & Zhou, H. (2021). Health as human capital in entrepreneurship: individual, extension, and substitution effects on entrepreneurial success. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 45(1), 18-42. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258719867559
Isavi, M., & Moayyedfard, A. (2021). Budgetary Trend and Financing Methods of Iran's Health Sector: An Operational Proposal. Quarterly Journal of Health Management, 24(4), 71-83. https://doi.org/10.52547/jha.24.4.71
Konat, G. (2021). Health expenditure and economic growth relationship: panel data analysis for OECD countries. Journal of Yaşar University, 16(61), 348-360. https://doi.org/10.19168/jyasar.787814
Lee, K. A. V. (2025). Artificial Intelligence and Public Health. 127-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-443-15728-8.00003-3
Love, A. S. (2025). Artificial Intelligence in Public Health Education: Navigating Ethical Challenges and Empowering the Next Generation of Professionals. Health Promotion Practice. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248399251320989
Luo, H., Ma, S., Tian, J., & Dong, H. (2025). Understanding the Behavioral Intentions of MaaS During Public Health Events. Frontiers in psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1517783
Masłowska, E., Guo, Z., Oh, S. H., & Smit, E. S. (2025). Exploring Public Health Agencies’ Communication on Social Media in the Early Stages of the Covid-19 Pandemic. European Journal of Health Communication, 6(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.47368/ejhc.2025.101
Mbau, R., Musiega, A., Nyawira, L., Tsofa, B., Mulwa, A., Molyneux, S., & Barasa, E. (2023). Analysing the efficiency of health systems: a systematic review of the literature. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 21(2), 205-224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-022-00785-2
Medvedev, O. N., & Krägeloh, C. U. (2025). From Clinic to Community: A Public Health Approach to Mindfulness. Mindfulness. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-025-02550-7
Mushkin, S. J. (1962). Health as an investment. Journal of Political Economy, 70(5), 129-157. https://doi.org/10.1086/258730
Nathaniel, S. P. (2021). Environmental degradation in ASEAN: assessing the criticality of natural resources abundance, economic growth and human capital. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(17), 21766-21778. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12034-x
Odhiambo, N. M. (2021). Health expenditure and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa: an empirical investigation. Development Studies Research, 8(1), 73-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/21665095.2021.2007782
Olayiwola, S. O., Bakare-Aremu, T. A., & Abiodun, S. O. (2021). Public health expenditure and economic growth in Nigeria: testing of Wagner's hypothesis. African Journal of Economic Review, 9(2), 130-150.
Özdoğan Özbal, E. (2021). Dynamic effects of higher education expenditures on human capital and economic growth: an evaluation of OECD countries. Policy Reviews in Higher Education, 5(2), 174-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2021.1893125
Penghui, X., Xicang, Z., & Haili, L. (2022). Direct and indirect effects of health expenditure on economic growth in China. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 28(3). https://doi.org/10.26719/emhj.22.007
Sağdıç, E. N., & Yıldız, F. (2021). An empirical investigation on the relationship between public health expenditures and economic growth in Turkey. International Journal of Afro-Eurasian Research, 6(12), 14-31.
Schultz, T. W. (1961). Invest in human capital. The American economic review, 51(1), 1-17.
Shahraki, M., & Ghaderi, S. (2019). The Impact of Socio-economic Factors on Household Health Expenditures: A Two-Stage Homogeneous Method. Journal of the Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Payavard-e Salamat), 13(2), 160-171.
Sökmen, F. Ş. (2021). Does health expenditures affect economic growth in BRICS-T countries? An empirical investigation. Journal of Academic Researches and Studies, 13(24), 1-10.
Suzan, O., & Yaşar Dinçer, F. C. (2021). The effect of educational and health expenditures on economic growth in OECD countries: a panel data analysis. International Journal of Management Economics and Business, 17(1), 47-62.
Thinagar, S., Ismail, M. K., Vy, L. A., & Haron, A. A. (2021). Human capital investment and economic growth: a study on ASEAN countries. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(18), 12-24. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i18/11425
Tunalı Sarı, N., Özkan, E., & Yıldırım, S. (2021). The relationship between health expenditures and economic growth: a panel data analysis on Euro countries. İzmir Journal of Economics, 36(1), 191-210. https://doi.org/10.24988/ije.202136113
Ying, S., Leone, D., Cicchiello, A. F., Cicchiello, A. F., & Kazemikhasragh, A. (2022). Industrial dynamics and economic growth in health-care context. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 37(8), 1706-1716. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-11-2020-0513
Zhao, R., & Du, Y. (2021). The impact of higher education and human capital quality on "local-neighborhood" economic growth". Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 8(1), 1041-1057. https://doi.org/10.15354/bece.21.ar22
Downloads
Published
Submitted
Revised
Accepted
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Reza Esmati, Gholamreza Abbasi, Lotfali Agheli, Azadeh Mehrabian (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
