The Impact of Government Health Expenditure on Economic Growth
Main Article Content
Keywords
government health expenditure, economic growth, labor productivity, per capita medical resources
Abstract
Based on panel data from 31 provinces in China during the period 2009–2024, this paper uses a two-way fixed effects model within the Cobb-Douglas production function framework to study and analyze the impact and transmission mechanism of government health expenditure on economic growth. Empirical results show that: First, government health expenditure has a significant positive effect on economic growth. Second, labor productivity plays a significant mediating role, meaning that health investment transforms improvements in micro-level efficiency into macroeconomic growth by accumulating healthy human capital. Third, the growth effect is moderated by regional medical resource endowment, and differences in per capita medical resources lead to heterogeneity in the marginal output of fiscal investment.
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