Does health expenditure matter for life expectancy in Mediterranean countries?

Abstract

This research assesses the effect of health expenditure and sanitation on life expectancy in Mediterranean countries. We also consider other drivers of life expectancy, such as CO2 emissions and economic growth. The study covers the period 2000–2018, and the recently developed method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) approach was utilised to assess these interconnections. This method is immune to outliers and creates an asymmetric interrelationship between variables. The outcomes from the MMQR unveiled that economic growth, health expenditure, and sanitation enhanced life expectancy in all quantiles (0.1–0.90). Furthermore, in all quantiles (0.1–0.90), the effect of CO2 emissions on life expectancy was negative. Moreover, as a robustness check, the FMOLS, DOLS, and FE-OLS long-run estimators were applied, and the outcomes validated the MMQR outcomes. Based on the results generated, policymakers in these nations should implement effective environmental and public health measures that will pay off in the long run through improved health as a result of lower emissions of CO2, as well as increased economic expansion and productivity.