Emerging Scholars Interdisciplinary Network
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- 5th Annual International Conference on Sociology
- Call for Papers and Participation, Deadline: October 11, 2010
- The Forgotten Epidemic HIV/AIDS: Crisis in Black America
- Deadline for Abstract Submission: September 8, 2010
- 2011 American Men's Studies Association Conference: Men, Masculi
- Deadline for Submissions: October 31, 2010
ESIN News
- Professional Opportunity
- Rutgers University School of Social Work, Two Tenure-Track Faculty Positions
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- University of North Dakota, One-year Visiting Assistant Professor, Counseling Psychology
- ESIN Congratulates
- Otima Doyle, PhD, MSW
- Professional Opportunity
- University of Michigan National Center for Institutional Diversity, Postdoctoral Program
- Funding Opportunity
- Health Promotion Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Males (R01)
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Scientific Update
- Black patients, women miss out on strongest medications for...
- Article highlighting research of Carmen Green
- A Meta-Study of Black Male Mental Health and Well-Being
- D.C. Watkins, R.L. Walker, and D.M. Griffith
Scientific News
Endemic Diseases and African Economic Growth...
D.N. Weil
2010-06-01 07:59:05
Endemic Diseases and African Economic Growth: Challenges and Policy Responses
David N. Weil
J Afr Econ 2010 published 27 May 2010, 10.1093/jae/ejq018
http://jae.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/ejq018v1
I examine the economic effects of disease and disease control. I consider both the effect of disease on conventionally measured GDP and also the monetary equivalent of the utility benefits from lower mortality. Regarding the effects on conventional GDP, I evaluate a number of approaches including cross-country regression (with and without instruments for disease) and simulation based on microeconomic studies. I also discuss theoretically and empirically the different channels that link disease and economic outcomes, including effects that run through labour productivity, education and population growth. Different approaches yield somewhat different results, but the overall finding is that there is at best weak support for the claims that the disease burden in Africa significantly lowers GDP or that improving health would provide a big impetus to economic growth. In contrast, the monetary equivalent of the utility benefits from better health can be extremely large. For example, reduced mortality in many developing countries has made a contribution to utility of roughly the same value as the growth of conventional GDP over the last several decades.
David N. Weil
J Afr Econ 2010 published 27 May 2010, 10.1093/jae/ejq018
http://jae.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/ejq018v1
I examine the economic effects of disease and disease control. I consider both the effect of disease on conventionally measured GDP and also the monetary equivalent of the utility benefits from lower mortality. Regarding the effects on conventional GDP, I evaluate a number of approaches including cross-country regression (with and without instruments for disease) and simulation based on microeconomic studies. I also discuss theoretically and empirically the different channels that link disease and economic outcomes, including effects that run through labour productivity, education and population growth. Different approaches yield somewhat different results, but the overall finding is that there is at best weak support for the claims that the disease burden in Africa significantly lowers GDP or that improving health would provide a big impetus to economic growth. In contrast, the monetary equivalent of the utility benefits from better health can be extremely large. For example, reduced mortality in many developing countries has made a contribution to utility of roughly the same value as the growth of conventional GDP over the last several decades.