Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T18:16:34.591Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Investing in Health: A Contribution to the Achievement of the Lisbon Agenda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2010

Martin McKee
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Marc Suhrcke
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

In the Lisbon Agenda, the European Union’s member States have committed themselves to invest in becoming the most competitive economy in the world. In this paper we review the evidence on whether investment in health should be part of this process. Concentrating on microeconomic studies, we show how better health can increase productivity and labour supply. In addition, there is an indirect positive effect through the investment that healthy people make their own education. Governments pursuing sustainable economic growth – broadly defined – should include the health of their population along with education and physical infrastructure in a balanced investment strategy.

Type
Focus: Health in Europe
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.European Council (2000) Presidency Conclusions-Lisbon European Council, 23 and 24 March 2000 (Brussels: European Council).Google Scholar
2.Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (2001) Macroeconomics and Health: Investing in Health for Economic Development, Report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, chaired by Jeffrey Sachs (Geneva: Commission on Macroeconomics and Health).Google Scholar
3.Suhrcke, M., McKee, M., Sauto Arce, R., Tsolova, S. and Mortensen, J. (2005) The Contribution of Health to the Economy in the European Union (Brussels: European Commission).Google Scholar
4.Judt, T. (2007) Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (London: Pimlico).Google Scholar
5.Foresight (2007) Tackling Obesities: Future Choices (London: UK Government Foresight Programme).Google Scholar
6.de Zulueta, J. (1998) The end of malaria in Europe: an eradication of the disease by control measures. Parassitologia, 40, 245246.Google ScholarPubMed
7.Sambri, V., Cavrini, F., Rossini, G., Pierro, A. and Landini, M. P. (2008) The 2007 epidemic outbreak of Chikungunya virus infection in the Romagna region of Italy: a new perspective for the possible diffusion of tropical diseases in temperate areas? New Microbiology, 31, 303304.Google ScholarPubMed
8.Horton, R. (2004) The lessons of MMR. Lancet, 363, 747749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Nolte, E. and McKee, M. (2008) Caring for People with Chronic Conditions. A Health System Perspective (Maidenhead: Open University Press).Google Scholar
10.Arthur D. Little International Inc. (2000) Public Finance Balance of Smoking in the Czech Republic (Prague: Arthur D. Little International Inc).Google Scholar
11.Suhrcke, M., McKee, M., Arce, R. S., Tsolova, S. and Mortensen, J. (2006) Investment in health could be good for Europe’s economies. BMJ, 333, 10171019.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Suhrcke, M., McKee, M., Stuckler, D., Sauto Arce, R., Tsolova, S. and Mortensen, J. (2006) The contribution of health to the economy in the European Union. Public Health, 120, 9941001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Commission of the European Communities (2007) White Paper. Together for Health: A Strategic Approach for the EU 2008–2013. COM(2007) 630 final (Brussels: European Commission).Google Scholar
14.Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2008) Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health. Final Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (Geneva: World Health Organization).Google Scholar
15.Kurlansky, M. (2005) 1968: The Year That Rocked the World (London: Vintage).Google Scholar
16.Daly, H. and Cobb, J. (1989) For the Common Good – Redirecting the Economy towards Community, the Environment and Sustainable Development (Boston MA: Beacon Press).Google Scholar
17.Talberth, J., Cobb, J. and Slattery, N. (2007) The Genuine Progress Indicator 2006: A Tool for Sustainable Development (Oakland CA: Redefining Progress).Google Scholar
18.Service, R. (1997) A History of Twentieth-century Russia (London: Allen Lane).Google Scholar
19.Jäckle, R. and Himmler, O. (2007) Health and Wages: Panel Data Estimates considering Selection and Endogeneity. Working Paper No. 43 (Munich: MPRA).Google Scholar
20.Luft, H. S. (1975) The impact of poor health on earnings. Review of Economics and Statistics, 57, 4357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Bartel, A. and Taubman, P. (1979) Health and Labour Market success: the role of various diseases. The review of Economics and Statistics, 61, 18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Chirikos, T. N. and Nestel, G. (1985) Further evidence on the economic effects of poor health. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 67, 6169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Gambin, L. (2004) Gender Differences in the Effect of Health on Wages in Britain, http://www2.eur.nl/bmg/ecuity/public_papers/ECuity3wp20GambinGenderhealthonincome.pdf (Department of Economics & Related Studies, University of York).Google Scholar
24.Gambin, L. M. (2005) The Impact of Health on Wages in Europe – Does Gender Matter? Working Paper 05/03 (York: Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG)).Google Scholar
25.Bartel, A. and Taubman, P. (1986) Some economic and demographic consequences of mental illness. Journal of Labor Economics, 4, 243256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Hansen, J. (2000) The effect of work absence on wages and wage gaps in Sweden. Journal of Population Economics, 13, 4555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27.Gannon, B. and Nolan, B. (2003) Disability and Labour Market Participation, HRB Working Paper (URL: http://www2.eur.nl/bmg/ecuity/public_papers/ECuity3wp8Gannon.pdf) (Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute).Google Scholar
28.Riphahn, R. T. (1998) Income and Employment Effects of Health Shocks – A Test Case for the German Welfare State, IZA Discussion Paper No. 10, June (Nuremburg: University of Erlangen-Nürnberg).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Hagan, R., Jones, A. M. and Rice, N. (2006) Health and Retirement in Europe. HEDG Working Paper 06/10. 2006 (York: HEDG, University of York).Google Scholar
30.García Gómez, P. (2008) Institutions, Health Shocks and Labour Outcomes across Europe. Documento de Trabajo (Madrid: FEDEA).Google Scholar
31.Sammartino, F. J. (1987) The effect of health on retirement. Social Security Bulletin, 50.Google ScholarPubMed
32.Jiménez-Martín, S., Labeaga, J. M. and Martínez Granado, M. (1999) Health status and retirement decisions for older European couples, October http://www.ceps.lu/iriss/documents/irisswp1.pdf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33.Charles, K. K. (1999) Sickness in the Family: Health Shocks and Spousal Labor Supply, Working Paper No. 2000-011 http://www.fordschool.umich.edu/research/papers/PDFfiles/00-011.pdf (Ann Arbor: Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan).Google Scholar
34.Del Gaudio Weiss, A. and Fantuzzo, J. W. (2001) Multivariate impact of health and caretaking risk factors on the school adjustment of first graders. Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 141160.3.0.CO;2-6>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35.Shakotko, R. A., Edwards, L. N. and Grossman, M. (1980) An Exploration of the Dynamic Relationship between Health and Cognitive Development in Adolescence, NBER Working Paper, No. 454 (Cambridge, MA: NBER).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
36.Case, A., Fertig, A. and Paxson, C. (2004) The lasting impact of childhood health and circumstance. Journal of Health Economics, 24, 365389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
37.Gregg, P. and Machin, S. (1998) Child Development and Success or Failure in the Youth Labour Market (Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper, No. 397, July).Google Scholar
38.Suhrcke, M. and La Paz-Nieves, C. (2008) The Impact of Health on Educational Outcomes in High-income Countries: A Systematic Review of the Evidence (Norwich: University of East Anglia).Google Scholar
39.Smith, J. P. (1999) Healthy bodies and thick wallets: the dual relation between health and economic status. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 13, 145166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
40.Fogel, R. W. (1994) Economic growth, population theory, and physiology: the bearing of long-term process on the making of economic policy. The American Economic Review, 84, 369395.Google Scholar
41.Arora, S. (2001) Health, human productivity, and long-term economic growth. The Journal of economic history, 61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42.Wanless, D. (2002) Securing our Future Health: Taking a Long-Term View (London: HM Treasury).Google Scholar
43.World Health Organization (2008) The Tallinn Charter: Health Systems for Health and Wealth (Tallinn: World Health Organization).Google Scholar
44.McKee, M., Suhrcke, M., Nolte, E., Lessof, S., Figueras, J., Duran, A. and Menabde, N. (2009) Health systems, health, and wealth: a European perspective. Lancet, 373, 349351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed