Life expectancy is accepted as an important indicator of public health and well-being of economies. Therefore, life expectancy can be accepted as a result of all economic, social, education, and health policies. This study investigates the mutual interaction between quality education and life expectancy in the BRICS countries for the 2000-2021 period through causality test considering the related empirical literature. The findings of the causality analysis reveal a bidirectional causal relationship between quality education and life expectancy in BRICS countries.
TopIntroduction
Life expectancy is a significant indicator of the overall health of a society. Therefore, improvements in life expectancy in a country indicate the progress in health of that country. However, life expectancy at birth considerably changes among the countries. For example, life expectancy at birth (years) in Japan, Australia, and Switzerland was respectively 84.7839, 84.5265 in 2021, and 83.9872, but life expectancy at birth (years) in Chad, Nigeria, and Lesotho was 52.5254, 52.676, and 53.062 in 2021 (UNDP, 2022).
The noticeable differences in life expectancy among the countries have led the researchers to explore the determinants of life expectancy. In this context, personal characteristics, lifestyle, livig standards, gross domestic product, labor force, healthcare expenditures, healthcare system, education level, social spending, hospital bed density, physician density, environment, and cultural factors have been documented as the main factors underlying the differences in life expectancy between countries (Galvani-Townsend et al., 2022; Roffia et al., 2022, Zang et al., 2022).
This study focuses on the interaction between quality education and life expectancy in sample of BRICS (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China, and South Africa). Education can influence the life expectancy through diverse direct and indirect channels. First, education is a significant determinant of human capital which considerably affects the economic growth and development (Ozturk, 2008; Marquez-Ramos and Mourelle, 2019). So, education can affect the life expectancy through fostering the economic growth and development via human capital, technological development, and innovation. Secondly, individuals with higher education level generally have higher awareness about health issues, healthier lifestyle and greater access to healthcare owing to the higher wages (Baker et al., 2011; Moga Rogoz et al., 2022). As a result, a significant influence of education on life expectancy is theoretically expected.
On the other hand, improvements in life expectancy also affects lifelong education and learning. Thus, Hoque et al. (2020) revealed that every 8.3 years of increased life expectancy at birth led a one-year increase in schooling. Therefore, a mutual causal interplay between education and life expectancy is expected at theoretical terms. Cervellati and Sunde (2015) also revealed a positive influence of life expectancy on education in 47 countries.
This study investigates the nexus about quality education and life expectancy in sample of BRICS countries which are the major emerging economies and main drivers of global economy during the past two decades. Furthermore, BRICS countries make up about 41% of the world population, 24% of world GDP, and 16% of global trade (BRICS India, 2021). The data of life expectancy at birth and quality education index are presented in Table 1. The Table 1 indicates that China and India have experienced the highest improvement in life expectancy between 2000 and 2021 and China is the best in quality education among BRICS economies, and India, South Africa, and Russian Federation have achieved considerable improvement in quality education.