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This paper analyzes the co-movement and causal linkages between environmental pollution and healthcare expenditure, taking economic growth as a control variable by using wavelet analysis for Taiwan over the period 1995 Q1–2016 Q4. The results show that there exists co-movement and causality between environmental pollution and healthcare expenditure at different frequencies and times. The changes in the relationships of the two variables are observed in certain events such as the period of the expansion stage, the policy of environmental pollution, and the issue of the National Health Insurance Integrated Circuit card (NHI-IC) in Taiwan. In the short-term, positive causality runs from healthcare expenditure to environmental pollution before 2004, while negative causality runs from healthcare expenditure to environmental pollution before 2007 in the long-term. After adding economic growth as a control variable, positive causality runs from healthcare expenditure to environmental pollution in the period 2009–2011 in the short-term, while negative causality running from healthcare expenditure to environmental pollution is shown in 2008 in the long-term. The results indicate that “higher government health expenditure leading to higher demand for environment quality” exists in different sub-periods and the argument may concern the factor of economics in the long-term. The positive healthcare lead in the short-term may be based on economics in the expansion stage. Also, the issue of NHI-IC possibly affects the dynamic relationship between healthcare expenditure and environmental pollution without considering economics. Based on empirical analysis, certain policy and managerial implications are addressed for decision-makers at macroeconomic and microeconomic levels.

Using annual time-series data over the period 1975–2017, the researcher applied the bootstrap autoregressive-distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration model developed by McNown et al. (1) to examine whether there is a long run relationship among health expenditure, CO2 emissions, and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in 18 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. We find cointegration exists in Netherlands when real GDP per capita serves as a dependent variable, in New Zealand when health expenditure is the dependent variable, and in the United States when CO2 emissions are dependent variables. The main results show evidence of a short run relationship between the three variables. The empirical results support that there is a bidirectional causality between health expenditure and GDP growth for Germany and the United States, between CO2 emissions and GDP growth for Canada, Germany, and the United States, and between health expenditure and CO2 emissions for New Zealand and Norway. The results also indicate that there are unidirectional causality in other countries.

In this study, we used a wavelet analysis method to analyze how stock price index is correlated with exchange rate in South African stock market andinterest rate was choosen as the control variable. As indicated by the empirical results, first, stock index is significantly correlated with exchange rate in the stock market of South Africa, no matter in the short term (1-4 years) or the long term (4-8 years). There is a significant correlation period, with correlation coefficient greater than 0.8. Second, for the short-term (1-4 years) relationship, after adding control variables, South Africa’s short-term negative correlation will be led by the stock exchange rate. That is, in condition of the negativity of both stock market and exchange rate, the stock market leads. And interest rate greatly affects the short-term (1-4 years) exchange rate and the stock price index in South Africa. And in the short term, the linkage between those two variables is not subject to the influence of 2008 financial crisis. Third, for the long-term (4-8 years) relationship, when we add control variables, regardless of its term, there is a negative correlation between stock market index and exchange rate in South African stock market, and stock market affects exchange rate. The long-term (4-8 years) correlation of stock price index and exchange rate in South African stock market was affected by the 2008 financial crisis. South African market is indeed the goal for investors to participating enthusiastically now. The above conclusions can serve as a lesson for hedging in corporate exchange rate, stock market, and also reference for global investors and all sorts of investor asset allocation.