Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/230610 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences No. 01-2021
Publisher: 
Universität Hohenheim, Fakultät Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Stuttgart
Abstract: 
We propose an overlapping generations framework in which life expectancyis determined endogenously by governmental health investments. As a novelty, we are able to examine the feedback effects between life expectancy and R&D-driven economic growth for the transitional dynamics. We find that i) higher survival induces economic growth through higher savings and higherlabor force participation; ii) longevity-induced reductions in fertility hampereconomic development; iii) the positive life expectancy effects of larger savingsand higher labor force participation outweigh the negative effect of a reductionin fertility, and iv) there exists a growth-maximizing size of the health caresector that might lie beyond what is observed in most countries. Altogether, the results support a rather optimistic view on the relationship between lifeexpectancy and economic growth and contribute to the debate surroundingrising health shares and economic development.
Subjects: 
long-run growth
horizontal innovation
increasing life expectancy
welfare effects of changing longevity
size of health-care sectors
JEL: 
I15
J11
J13
J17
O41
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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