Exploring the relationship between life expectancy at birth and economic growth in 56 developing countries

Abstract

# Background Higher income per capita (IPC) means better access to public and private health services those are provided by public or private sectors in a country. Good health service which lowers mortality rates in a country promotes to reach a long living population level with a higher life expectancy at birth (LEB) and healthy labour force enhancing productivity. People feel themselves more productive with a good health care hence increasing productivity and working hours will cause an increase in IPC (economic growth) incessantly. In traditional economic growth theory, labour force which is one of the factors of production function has got an important effect on the country's economic growth. This study aims to investigate the relationship between LEB and IPC data and vice versa for 56 developing countries in North Africa, Middle-East and South-East Asia where most of them are Islamic countries and members of The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). # Methods Cross-section data analysis and panel data analysis consisting random and fixed effects estimations were used in the study to investigate the relationship. # Results According to the random and fixed effects estimation models with panel data analysis and cross-section data analysis in the study, LEB is found as one of the determinants of IPC and IPC as a main determinant of LEB in 56 developing countries. Granger causality test is also applied to test the direction of causality between LEB and national IPC for 56 developing countries and it is seen that IPC Granger causes LEB increase and vice versa for panel data. For cross-section data analysis there is no proved correlation between two variables. # Conclusions In the manuscript 56 developing countries were analysed together. LEB and IPC promote each other not at once but in a time period. In the study our results show that economic growth Granger causes LEB increase and vice versa only for panel data not for cross-section data. The case or IPC not increasing to a higher level is called in literature as \Middle Income Trap\. So benchmarking emerging countries is important to show the guidelines avoiding the \Middle Income Trap\.