Health, education, and economic growth in East Asia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the sources of economic growth based on an augmented Mankiw, Romer, and Weil's model which considers human capital in the forms of both health and education for a group of East Asian economies including China. Design/methodology/approach Empirical results are based on the analysis of a panel dataset from 1961 to 2007. Sub‐sample estimation for the post‐1997 Asian Financial Crisis period is also considered for comparison purposes. Findings The impact of the stock of health and education on economic growth is statistically significant for both the whole sample and sub‐sample period. However, the impact of investment in education on economic growth is a little “fragile”. The statistical results show that the statistical impact of health on economic growth is stronger than that of education. It seems that it is more plausible for the policymakers in East Asia to invest more in health than educational human capital. Originality/value This paper is one of the first empirical studies to analyze the effect of human capital in the form of both health and education on economic growth in East Asia.