Abstract
This study attempts to provide a comprehensive and deeper understanding of the relationship between health and social inclusion using both cross-sectional and panel data sets for 180 countries from 1990 to 2014. The fixed effect method is used to estimate parameters on the basis of Hausman test. Besides, to deal with endogenous nature of social inclusion Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS) and system GMM are used in cross-sectional and panel data, respectively. In this study four comprehensive measures of social inclusion, namely cohesion, association, safety and trust and gender equality, are used. Health is measured by life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rates. This study confirms that social inclusion has a favorable effect on health. We discover that not all proxies of social inclusion are equally important in determining health status as their impact vary according to health proxy and econometric technique used. Main results (system GMM) are robust to alternative proxies of health and social inclusion and to other determinants of health. The study suggests designing such programs and policies that are not only targeted to improve the quality of life through better health facilities but also focuses on increased social inclusion.
Keywords: Population Health, Life Expectancy, Social Inclusion, Panel Data, System GMM.
