Effects of Air Pollution on Public and Private Health Expenditures in Iran: A Time Series Study (1972-2014)

Abstract

ObjectivesEnvironmental pollution is a negative consequence of the development process, and many countries are grappling with this phenomenon. As a developing country, Iran is not exempt from this rule, and Iran pays huge expenditures for the consequences of pollution. The aim of this study was to analyze the long- and short-run impact of air pollution, along with other health indicators, on private and public health expenditures.MethodsThis study was an applied and developmental study. Autoregressive distributed lag estimating models were used for the period of 1972 to 2014. In order to determine the co-integration between health expenditures and the infant mortality rate, fertility rate, per capita income, and pollution, we used the Wald test in Microfit version 4.1. We then used Eviews version 8 to evaluate the stationarity of the variables and to estimate the long- and short-run relationships.ResultsLong-run air pollution had a positive and significant effect on health expenditures, so that a 1.00% increase in the index of carbon dioxide led to an increase of 3.32% and 1.16% in public and private health expenditures, respectively. Air pollution also had a greater impact on health expenditures in the long term than in the short term.ConclusionsThe findings of this study indicate that among the factors affecting health expenditures, environmental quality and contaminants played the most important role. Therefore, in order to reduce the financial burden of health expenditures in Iran, it is essential to reduce air pollution by enacting and implementing laws that protect the environment.

Are Air Pollution, Economic and Non-Economic Factors Associated with Per Capita Health Expenditures? Evidence from Emerging Economies

“…These results infer that in the case of emerging economies, the CO 2 emissions and emissions of SO 2 and NO x lower the burden of private healthcare spending. These findings are in contrast to the study by Raeissi et al [47] in Iran.…”

“…These results imply that environmental pollution through CO 2 emissions and also by combined emissions of CO 2 , SO 2 , and NO x increases the government budget of healthcare spending and also builds pressure for controlling the environmental degradation among emerging economies. This finding, that CO 2 emissions has a positive and significant impact on health spending, is consistent with research by Raeissi et al [47] in Iran; Micheal et al [29] in Ghana; and Chaabouni et al [30] in 51 countries.…”

“…Raeissi, et al [47] found that health spending is positively affected by air pollution in the long-run, as a 1.00% increase in CO 2 emissions could lead to a 1.16% and 3.32% increase in private and government health spending, respectively. They concluded that in the long-term, air pollution has a strong impact on health spending compared to the short-term.…”

The Relationship between CO2 and Health Expenditures in BRICS-T Countries

“…Since the relationship between the variables is not the same in all states, the effects of policies that will decrease carbon dioxide emissions will not be felt in the same proportion in each state. Raeissi et al (2018) investigated the effects of air pollution (carbon dioxide emissions) on private and public health expenditures with Iran's data for the period of 1972-2014, using time series analysis methods. According to the results obtained, air pollution has a positive and significant effect on health expenditures.…”

<p>The Impact of Air Pollution on Healthcare Expenditure for Respiratory Diseases: Evidence from the People’s Republic of China</p>

“…1 Therefore, research taking developing countries as an example have also begun. Raeissi et al 46 analyzed the impact of air pollution on private and public health expenditure using Iranian panel data from 1972 to 2014. The results showed that for a 1% increase in CO 2 emissions, public and private health expenditure would increase by 3.32% and 1.16%, respectively.…”