The impact of health expenditures on economic growth: An empirical investigation from provinces in Turkey

Today, when technological developments and the age of information are happening, health is a fundamental right, as well as one of the most important elements of the development of human capital, which provides sustainable economic growth and competitiveness in the globalized world. Health, a measure of prosperity and improvement, is one of the key to development. Health investments, which play a critical role in the rehabilitation of the labor force used as input in production, are the guarantees of healthy societies. In healthy societies, the quality of human capital is increasing in parallel with the rise of quality of life. Healthy societies are undoubtedly made up of expenditure on human capital, such as education and health. In healthy society, the employment of quality human capital makes it possible to achieve more efficient results. In this context, the determination of the importance of health expenditures in the country's economy, which is critical to the development, protection of human capital and consequently ensuring sustainable economic growth, is a study of hard work in scientific writing. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of health expenditures on gross domestic product per capita. In this study, the health expenditure and economic growth relationship were examined by panel data analysis of the 2004-2020-year health and education expenditures of 81 provinces in Turkey, related to national income per capita. According to the results of the panel ARDL analysis, a 1% increase in health expenditure in the long term has been found to reduce gross domestic product per capita by 0,353%. The increase in education expenditures used as a control variable has been found to increase national income per capita, and a 1% increase in education spending increases income per capita by 1,058%. According to the findings obtained in the study where relations between variables were examined using the panel Granger (1969) causality test, there were bilateral causality relations between health expenditures, education expenditures and per capita income.