SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Anadolu Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi / 2026 / Volume: 27 Issue: 1

LIFE EXPECTANCY, INCOME INEQUALITY, AND POLLUTION: UNRAVELING THE TRILEMMA THROUGH A PANEL ARDL APPROACH IN OECD

Pelin Gençoğlu(ERCİYES ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0003-2985-2875
Pages
—
Publication Date
2026-03-26
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The results indicate that income inequality significantly reduces life expectancy in the long run, while CO₂ emissions negatively affect LE across both short- and long-term horizons.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This study examines the Income Inequality and Health Hypothesis (IINH) in an environmental context across 27 OECD countries between 1990 and 2018.
📊
Key Findings & Data:The Pooled Mean Group-ARDL (PMG-ARDL) model is employed to assess the joint short- and long-run effects of income inequality and CO₂ emissions on life expectancy (LE), controlling for health expenditure and mortality rates.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:The results indicate that income inequality significantly reduces life expectancy in the long run, while CO₂ emissions negatively affect LE across both short- and long-term horizons.
🔬Design:Lab & Field Experiment
📍Scope:2018 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Life Expectancy · Income Inequality · Carbon Emissions

Abstract

This study examines the Income Inequality and Health Hypothesis (IINH) in an environmental context across 27 OECD countries between 1990 and 2018. The Pooled Mean Group-ARDL (PMG-ARDL) model is employed to assess the joint short- and long-run effects of income inequality and CO₂ emissions on life expectancy (LE), controlling for health expenditure and mortality rates. The results indicate that income inequality significantly reduces life expectancy in the long run, while CO₂ emissions negatively affect LE across both short- and long-term horizons. Health expenditure is found to increase life expectancy in the long run. In addition, the Emirmahmutoglu and Kose (2011) panel Granger causality test shows that both the existence and direction of causal relationships among variables vary across individual OECD countries.

🔖

Cite This Article

Gençoğlu, P. (2026). LIFE EXPECTANCY, INCOME INEQUALITY, AND POLLUTION: UNRAVELING THE TRILEMMA THROUGH A PANEL ARDL APPROACH IN OECD. Anadolu Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, Volume: 27 Issue: 1. https://doi.org/10.53443/anadoluibfd.1726247

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (48)

  1. Antony, J., & Klarl, T. (2020). Estimating the income inequality-health relationship for the United States between 1941 and 2015: Will the relevant frequencies please stand up? The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 17, Article 100275, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeoa.2020.100275
  2. Anwar, A., Hyder, S., Mohamed Nor, N., & Younis, M. (2023). Government health expenditures and health outcome nexus: A study on OECD countries. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, Article 1123759, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1123759
  3. Ásgeirsdóttir, T. L., & Ragnarsdóttir, D. Ó. (2014). Health-income inequality: The effects of the Icelandic economic collapse. International Journal for Equity in Health, 13, Article 50, 1–12. http://www.equityhealthj.com/content/13/1/50
  4. Babones, S. J. (2008). Income inequality and population health: Correlation and causality. Social Science & Medicine, 66, 1614–1626. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.12.012
  5. Bakkeli, N. Z. (2016). Income inequality and health in China: A panel data analysis. Social Science & Medicine, 157, 39–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.03.041
  6. Bosah, C. P., Li, S., Minua Ampofo, G. K., & Liu, K. (2021). Dynamic nexus between energy consumption, economic growth, and urbanization with carbon emission: Evidence from panel PMG-ARDL estimation. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 61201–61212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14943-x
  7. Breusch, T. S., & Pagan, A. R. (1980). The Lagrange multiplier test and its applications to model specification in econometrics. Review of Economic Studies, 47(1), 239–253.
  8. Charafeddine, R., & Boden, L. I. (2008). Does income inequality modify the association between air pollution and health? Environmental Research, 106, 81–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2007.09.005
  9. Detollenaere, J., Desmarest, A., Boecxstaens, P., & Willems, S. (2011). The link between income inequality and health in Europe, adding strength dimensions of primary care to the equation. Social Science & Medicine, 201, 103–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.01.041
  10. Drabo, A. (2011). Impact of income inequality on health: Does environment quality matter? (CERDI, Etudes et Documents, E 2010.06, 1–24). https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00552993
  11. Elgar, F. J., Gariépy, G., Torsheim, T., & Currie, C. (2017). Early-life income inequality and adolescent health and well-being. Social Science & Medicine, 174, 197–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.10.014
  12. Emirmahmutoglu, F., & Kose, N. (2011). Testing for Granger causality in heterogeneous mixed panels. Economic Modelling, 28, 870–876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2010.10.018
  13. Emodi, N. V., Inekwe, J. N., & Zakari, A. (2022). Transport infrastructure, CO2 emissions, mortality, and life expectancy in the Global South. Transport Policy, 128, 243–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2022.09.025
  14. Esmaeili, A., Mansouri, S., & Moshavash, M. (2011). Income inequality and population health in Islamic countries. Public Health, 125, 577–584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2011.06.003
  15. Gravelle, H. (1998). How much of the relation between population mortality and unequal distribution of income is a statistical artefact? BMJ, 316, 382–385.
  16. Hao, Y., Liu, J., Lu, Z., Shi, R., & Wu, H. (2021). Impact of inequality and fiscal decentralization on public health: Evidence from China. Economic Modelling, 94, 934–944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2020.02.034
  17. Hill, T. D., & Jorgenson, A. (2018). Bring out your dead!: A study of income inequality and life expectancy in the United States, 2000-2010. Health & Place, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.11.001
  18. Hu, Y., van Lenthe, F. J., & Mackenbach, J. P. (2015). Income inequality, life expectancy and cause-specific mortality in 43 European countries, 1987-2008: A fixed effects study. European Journal of Epidemiology, 30, 615–625. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-015-0066-x
  19. Idrovo, A. J., Ruiz-Rodríguez, M., & Manzano-Patiño, A. P. (2010). Beyond the income inequality hypothesis and human health: A worldwide exploration. Revista de Saúde Pública, 44(4), 695–702. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0034-89102010005000020
  20. Karlsdotter, K., Martín, J. J. M., & González, M. P. L. A. (2012). Multilevel analysis of income, income inequalities and health in Spain. Social Science & Medicine, 74, 1099–1106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.12.020
  21. Karlsson, M., Nilsson, T., Lyttkens, C. H., & Leeson, G. (2010). Income inequality and health: Importance of a cross-country perspective. Social Science & Medicine, 70, 875–885. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.10.056
  22. Kotschy, R. (2022). Health improvements impact income inequality. The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 22, Article 100385, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeoa.2022.100385
  23. Kragten, N., & Rözer, J. (2017). The income inequality hypothesis revisited: Assessing the hypothesis using four methodological approach. Social Indicators Research, 131, 1015–1033. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1283-8
  24. Li, H., & Zhu, Y. (2006). Income, income inequality, and health: Evidence from China. Journal of Comparative Economics, 34, 668–693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2006.08.005
  25. López, D. B., Loehrer, A. P., & Chang, D. C. (2016). Impact of income inequality on the nation’s health. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 223, 587–594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2016.07.005
  26. Luo, W., & Xie, Y. (2020). Economic growth, income inequality and life expectancy in China. Social Science & Medicine, 256, Article 113046, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113046
  27. Lynch, J., Smith, G. D., Harper, S., Hillemeier, M., Ross, N., Kaplan, G. A., & Wolfson, M. (2004). Is income inequality a determinant of population health? The Milbank Quarterly, Part 1. A systematic review. The Milbank Quarterly, 82(1), 5–99.
  28. Mahalik, M. K., Le, T., Le, H., & Mallick, H. (2022). How do sources of carbon dioxide emissions affect life expectancy? Insights from 68 developing and emerging economies. World Development Sustainability, 1, Article 100003, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wds.2022.100003
  29. Martin, L., & Baten, J. (2022). Inequality and life expectancy in Africa and Asia, 1820-2000. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 201, 40–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2022.07.017
  30. Mellor, J. K., & Milyo, J. (2002). Income inequality and health status in the United States: Evidence from the current population. The Journal of Human Resources, 37(3), 510–539.
  31. Muradov, A. J., Aydin, M., Bozalti, O., & Tuzcuoğlu, F. (2024). Air pollution and life expectancy in the USA: Do medical innovation, health expenditure, and economic complexity matter? Science of the Total Environment, 946, Article 174441, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174441
  32. Nyeadi, J. D. (2023). The impact of financial development and foreign direct investment on environmental sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa: Using PMG-ARDL approach. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 36(2), 2106270. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2022.2106270
  33. Paul, S. (2021). Income inequality and individual health status: Evidence from India. Journal of Quantitative Economics, 19, 269–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40953-020-00223-x
  34. Pesaran, H. M. (2007). A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 22(2), 265–312. https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.951
  35. Pesaran, H. M., Ullah, A., & Yamagata, R. T. (2008). A bias adjusted LM test of error cross section independence. The Econometrics Journal, 105–127. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1368-423X.2007.00227.x
  36. Pesaran, M. H., & Yamagata, T. (2008). Testing slope homogeneity in large panels. Journal of Econometrics, 142, 50–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2007.05.010
  37. Pesaran, M. H., Shin, Y., & Smith, R. P. (1999). Pooled mean group estimation of dynamic heterogeneous panels. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 94(446), 621–634. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1999.10474156
  38. Preston, S. H. (1975). The changing relation between mortality and level of economic development. Population Studies, 29(2), 231–248.
  39. Ram, R. (2006). Further examination of the cross-country association between income inequality and population health. Social Science & Medicine, 62, 779–791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.06.034
  40. Regidor, E., Calle, M. E., Navarro, P., & Dominguez, V. (2003). Trends in the association between average income, poverty and income inequality and life expectancy in Spain. Social Science & Medicine, 56, 961–971.
  41. Rodgers, G. B. (1979). Income and inequality as determinants of mortality: An international cross-section analysis. Population Studies, 33(2), 343–351.
  42. Rözer, J. J., & Volker, B. (2016). Does income inequality have lasting effects on health and trust? Social Science & Medicine, 149, 37–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.047
  43. Torre, R., & Myrskylä, M. (2014). Income inequality and population health: An analysis of panel data for 21 developed countries, 1975-2006. Population Studies, 68(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2013.856457
  44. Wagstaff, A., & van Doorslaer, E. (2000). Income inequality and health: What does the literature tell us? Annual Review of Public Health, 21, 543–567.
  45. Westerlund, J. (2008). Panel cointegration tests of the Fisher effect. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 23, 193–233. https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.967
  46. Wilkinson, R. G. (1992). Income distribution and life expectancy. BMJ, 304, 165–168.
  47. Wilkinson, R. G. (1996). Unhealthy societies: From inequality to well-being. Routledge.
  48. Zhao, X., Gao, Y., Hou, Y., Albasher, G., & Bu, F. (2024). Addressing the resource curse: Empirical analysis of green gas mitigation strategies for sustainable development. Resources Policy, 88, Article 104454, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.104454