Does environmental quality influence health expenditures? Empirical evidence from a panel of selected OECD countries

In this paper we examine the role of environmental quality in determining per capita health expenditures. We take a panel cointegration approach in order to explore the possibility of estimating both short-run and long-run impacts of environmental quality. Our empirical analysis is based on eight OECD countries, namely Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK for the period 1980-1999. We find that per capita health expenditure, per capita income, carbon monoxide emissions, sulphur oxide emissions and nitrogen oxide emissions are panel cointegrated. While short-run elasticities reveal that income and carbon monoxide emissions exert a statistically significant positive effect on health expenditures, in the long-run in addition to income and carbon monoxide, we find that sulphur oxide emissions have a statistically significant positive impact on health expenditures.     

New panel results on cointegration of international health expenditure and GDP

This article tests for existence of cointegration between health expenditure and GDP using data from 25 OECD countries for the period 19607ndash;1997. The empirical modelling is based on a heterogeneous bivariate vector error correction panel model that allows for trending data as well as intercepts and trends in the cointegrating relations. Univariate country-by-country and panel unit root tests generally fail to reject the null of a unit root in the health expenditure and GDP variables. Country-by-country results based on the Johansen multivariate likelihood-based inference indicate somewhat mixed results on country-specific cointegration with a rank of one found for 12 countries and a rank of zero for the remaining 13 countries. Application of a new panel test for cointegration rank with higher power than the individual tests indicates that health expenditure and GDP are cointegrated around linear trends.     

Social security expenditure and GDP in OECD countries: A cointegrated panel analysis

Abstract

Using panel data unit root tests and panel cointegration tests, as well as estimation techniques appropriate for heterogeneous panels such as the full modified OLS, this paper re-examines the long-run co-movement and the causal relationship between GDP and social security expenditure in a bivariate model, employing data on 25 OECD countries from 1980 to 2001. Our cointegration test results show strong evidence in favour of the existence of a long-run equilibrium cointegrating relationship between GDP and social security expenditure after allowing for a heterogeneous country effect. Regarding the panel-based error correction model, we find that GDP and social security expenditure lack short-run causality, but reveal the existence of long-run bidirectional causality. This shows that, in the long run, economic growth must be based on a social welfare policy that should be carried out, and economic growth can facilitate contiguous development in a social welfare policy. Lastly, we also provide evidence to support that social security expenditure can affect growth through the savings and human capital accumulation in OECD countries.     

The elusive character of fiscal sustainability

We assess the sustainability of public finances in OECD countries using unit root and cointegration analysis, controlling for endogenous breaks. Results deem fiscal sustainability as rather elusive since we find lack of cointegration – absence of sustainability – between government revenues and expenditures (except for Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden and UK); improvements of the primary balance after worsening debt ratios only for Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and the UK; and Granger causality from government debt to primary balances for 12 countries (suggesting Ricardian regimes).     

A replication note on unemployment in the OECD since the 1960s: what do we know?

Nickell et al. (Econ J 115(500):1–27, 2005) argue that unemployment rates cointegrate with labour market institutions in a panel of OECD countries. This paper replicates their Maddala–Wu panel cointegration test and shows that this test is only valid when (i) the number of countries tends to infinity and (ii) the underlying country-specific cointegration tests are independent. Their finding of cointegration does not survive when small sample properties and heterogeneous cross-sectional dependencies are taken into account. We acknowledge financial support from the Interuniversity Attraction Poles Program, Belgian Science Policy, contract no. P5/21. The usual disclaimer applies.     

The government spending and private consumption: a panel cointegration analysis

In this article, whether an increase in government spending will crowd out the private consumption is re-examined. This article augments the empirical literature by extending this issue to panel data. The empirical framework applies the panel cointegration model, dynamic OLS (DOLS), proposed by Kao and Chiang [On the estimation and inference of a cointegrated regression in panel data. Working Paper, Economics Department, Syracuse University, 1999.]. Evidence from 24 OECD countries indicates a significant degree of substitutability between government spending and private consumption when the real disposable income is included, which rejects the permanent income hypothesis. The existence of crowding out renders the Keynesian plea for expansionary fiscal policy unconvincing.     

Revisiting the Link Between Stock Prices and Goods Prices in OECD Countries

Fisher hypothesis postulates positive relation between stock return and inflation; however early studies document negative relationship between the two and they conclude that stock cannot be used as a hedge against inflation. In this paper we explore long‐run nonlinear relationship between stock price and goods price. Our sample consists of 19 OECD countries; all or some of these countries have been studied before with the findings of linear cointegration between the stock index and goods price index. Based on unit root tests and linear cointegration test, we apply threshold cointegration tests, Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration test and panel VAR method. With all these econometric methods we arrive at heterogeneous findings as follows: two countries have linear cointegration, five countries have threshold cointegration, nine countries do not have any cointegration and finally two countries provide inconclusive results. Estimates of Fisher coefficient provided by linear and nonlinear cointegration methods, which range between 1.27 and 1.86, are consistent with previous studies. Impulse response analysis from panel VAR for countries having no cointegrating relation shows that shock to inflation produces negative response in stock return, which supports findings of earlier studies.     

Regional growth and unemployment in the medium run: asymmetric cointegrated Okun’s Law for UK regions

This article tests for the presence of a medium-run asymmetric Okun’s Law relationship between regional output and regional unemployment rate in UK regions. The test is performed with a panel data version of the hidden cointegration technique suggested by Granger and Yoon. A novelty of the article is to combine the method of hidden cointegration with a panel data method of removing cross-sectional dependence. The medium-run Okun relationship for regions in the UK appears to confirm results found elsewhere in the literature on countries as a whole, although the coefficients tend to be smaller.     

Nonlinear relationship between health care expenditure and its determinants: a panel smooth transition regression model

This paper employs a panel of 16 OECD countries over the period 1975–2009 to reexamine the health care expenditure (HCE)-income relationship by considering a lagged ratio of public expenditures on health as the transition variable in panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) models. PSTR models can capture the heterogeneity of any individual country, provide more detailed information for policy makers of an individual government, and resolve the insufficient observations problem that frequently appears in annual country-level data. Our empirical results indicate that the relationship between HCE and its determinants, including income, time (trend), and age structure variables, is nonlinear and varies with time and across countries. The time (trend) variable—a proxy for technical progress in health care—has a non-linear impact on HCE. Ignoring the variables—technological change of health care and age structure of population—will result in over-estimates of the income elasticities of HCE. Moreover, HCE behaves as a necessity good, and the income elasticity increases when the five-period lagged ratio of public expenditures on health increases. Clearly, the ratio of government financing on health plays an important role in influencing HCE.     

Equity market integration versus segmentation in three dominant markets of the Southern African Customs Union: cointegration and causality tests

Empirical tests of theories of financial market integration and segmentation have predominantly focused on developed OECD countries and the emerging markets of Asia Pacific. This study uses a unique panel of equity market indices from the principal Southern African Customs Union (SACU) markets. It tests the hypothesis of market integration using a cointegration approach. Markets that are found to be integrated are then tested for evidence of Granger causality through an error correction mechanism. Results obtained using VAR modelling techniques are compared to those using an ARDL model. While results lend support to existing trade, macroeconomic and developmental linkages and effects between and within the countries, there is some evidence for the presence of a regional factor common to African Emerging Markets that explains causality from Namibia to South Africa. The results support the view that institution building has progressed, which is considered to be a valuable contribution to growth promotion policies in SSA and market integration throughout financial markets in the SADC community.     

Do per capita health care expenditures converge among OECD countries? Evidence from unit root tests with level and trend-shifts

This study examines the stochastic conditional convergence of per capita health care expenditures (PCHCE) among 19 OECD countries over the period 1972–2008. Specifically, newly developed LM and RALS-LM unit root tests with allowance for two endogenously determined structural breaks are employed. The results indicate support for PCHCE convergence among most OECD countries. The results are stronger in more general tests that control for two breaks and nonnormal errors. Panel unit root tests provide additional support for the stochastic convergence of PCHCE.     

Do hours worked contain a unit root? Evidence from panel data

The aim of the present paper is to provide cross country evidence of the non-stationarity of hours worked for OECD countries. For this purpose, panel unit root tests are employed to improve power against univariate counterparts. Since cross section correlation is a distinct feature of the underlying panel data, results are based on various second generation panel unit root tests, which account for cross section dependence among units. If an unobserved common factor model is assumed for generating the observations, there is indication for both a common factor and idiosyncratic components driving the non-stationarity of hours worked. In addition, taking these results together, there is no indication of cointegration among the individual time series of hours worked.     

Health care expenditure and income in the OECD reconsidered: Evidence from panel data

This paper reconsiders the long-run economic relationship between health care expenditure and income using a panel of 20 OECD countries observed over the period 1971–2004. In particular, the paper studies the non-stationarity and cointegration properties between health care spending and income. This is done in a panel data context controlling for both cross-section dependence and unobserved heterogeneity. Cross-section dependence is modelled through a common factor model and through spatial dependence. Heterogeneity is handled through fixed effects in a panel homogeneous model and through a panel heterogeneous model. Our findings suggest that health care is a necessity rather than a luxury, with an elasticity much smaller than that estimated in previous studies.     

Health expenditure and socio-economic determinants of life expectancy in the OECD Asia/Pacific area countries

Recent economic research is focused on the study of the relationship between socio-economic factors and health outcomes. In this study, the relationship in the OECD Asia/Pacific area countries regarding life expectancy is explored. Data from the World Bank and OECD Health Statistics (2015) have been used to build a panel data during the period 1995–2013. On the one hand, it was found that per capita income, unemployment and exchange rates improve health outcomes. On the other hand, poor performance, in terms of government expenditures for the countries-sample, comes across. Empirical results highlight the importance of cost-effectiveness analysis.     

Analysing money demand relation for OECD countries using common factors

This article investigates the existence of a long-run money demand relation for a panel data consisting of 13 OECD countries. The analysis is based on the most recent data. The existence of a long-run money demand relation is tested with two new meta-analytic panel cointegrating rank tests which are robust to cross-sectional dependence. Cross-sectional dependency in the data generating process is modelled by unobserved common factors. The observed data are decomposed into idiosyncratic and common components, and these two components are analysed separately to find out the driving forces of the long-run stationary relationship. The evidence shows that the long-run money demand relation is driven by the cross-unit cointegration. Finally, the long-run relation is estimated by taking the common factors into account.     

Assessment of innovation and foreign direct investment: An investigation of OECD countries

Using a panel cointegration method incorporating structural breaks and cross-sectional dependence, this paper explores the long-run equilibrium relationship between innovation and foreign direct investment (FDI) in 30 OECD countries. The results from the panel stationary test show that FDI and innovation variables follow a stationary process with several structural breaks over the period 1999–2018. The results also suggest an equilibrium relationship with structural breaks between FDI and innovation in OECD countries. The panel dynamic OLS model with breaks further reveals that FDI is positively associated with innovation performance and vice versa in OECD countries. Therefore, this paper sheds light on the relationship between FDI and innovation in OECD countries.     

Panel LM unit root tests with level and trend shifts

This paper considers a Lagrange multiplier (LM) based panel unit root test that allows for heterogeneous structural breaks in both the intercepts and slopes of a series. We note that many popular time series variables are likely to exhibit changing means and/or trends over time. Given that the usual tests will depend on the nuisance parameters indicating the locations of the trend breaks, we adopt a transformation procedure that makes our new panel unit root tests invariant to the nuisance parameters. To illustrate the importance of the power gain provided by our test, we examine the convergence hypothesis using relative ratios of per capita health care expenditures in 20 OECD countries. Our results provide evidence that the convergence hypothesis is supported.     

The causal dynamics between renewable energy,real GDP,emissions and oil prices: evidence from OECD countries

This study extends the empirical literature on the determinants of renewable energy consumption in the case of 25 OECD countries for the period 1980–2011. Preliminary analysis suggests the presence of cross-sectional dependence within the panel data. As a result, second-generation panel unit root tests of Smith et al. (2004) and Pesaran (2007) are undertaken to find the respective variables that are integrated of order one. Panel cointegration and error correction modelling reveal that a long-run relationship exists between renewable energy consumption per capita, real GDP per capita, carbon dioxide emissions per capita and real oil prices. The long-run elasticity estimates are positive and statistically significant for real GDP per capita, carbon dioxide emissions per capita and real oil prices. The panel error correction model shows that a feedback relationship exists among the variables.     

Convergence in per capita health expenditures and health outcomes in the OECD countries

Our analysis of 19 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries over the period 1972 to 2006 provides evidence of convergence in per capita health care expenditures for 17 countries, while the US and (to a lesser degree) Norway follow a different path. A simple decomposition of per capita health expenditures reveals that the divergence of the US comes from the divergence of the ‘ratio of health care expenditures to Gross Domestic Product (GDP)’ component, while Norway's divergence is mainly caused by the ‘labour productivity’ component. Interestingly, our results suggest that convergence in per capita health expenditures among the 17 OECD countries does not lead to convergence in health outcomes. Finally, we extend our analysis to examine convergence in various determinants of health expenditures.     

How strong is the causal relationship between globalization and energy consumption in developed economies? A country-specific time-series and panel analysis

We examine the causal relationship between globalization, economic growth and energy consumption for 25 developed economies using both time series and panel data techniques for the period 1970–2014. Due to the presence of cross-sectional dependence in the panel (countries from Asia, North America, Western Europe and Oceania), we employ the cross-sectional augmented IPS test to ascertain unit root properties. The cointegration test results indicate the presence of a long-run association between globalization, economic growth and energy consumption. Long-run heterogeneous panel elasticities are estimated through the common correlated effects mean group estimator and the augmented mean group estimator. The empirical results reveal that, for most countries, globalization increases energy consumption. In the USA and UK, globalization is negatively correlated with energy consumption. The causality analysis indicates the presence of the globalization-driven energy consumption hypothesis. This empirical analysis suggests insightful policy guidelines for policy makers using globalization as an economic tool to utilize energy efficiently for sustainable economic development in the long run.