The Nexus Between Health Status and Health Expenditure, Energy Consumption and Environmental Pollution: Empirical Evidence from SAARC-BIMSTEC Regions

Abstract Background: The prevailing COVID-19 pandemic made us deep concern for considering the betterment of health status along with health expenditure, energy, and environmental issues all over the world. This paper examines the nexus between health status and health expenditures (both public and private), energy consumption and environmental pollution in the SAARC-BIMSTEC region.Methodology: We have utilized the panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, heterogeneous panel causality test, cross sectional dependence test, cointegration test and Pesaran cross sectional dependent (CADF) unit root test for obtaining estimated results from the data of 16 years (2002-2017). Results: The acquired results authorize the cointegration among the variables used, where energy consumption, public and private health expenditure and economic growth have positive and statistically significant effects and environmental pollution has both negative and significant effects on the health status of these regions in the long-run, but no panel wise significant impact is found in the short-run. Two-way causal relationships between health status and environmental pollution, public and private health expenditure, economic growth and sanitation facilities, and a one-way causality running from energy consumption to health status are revealed.Conclusions: The improved health status in the SAARC-BIMSTEC region required to be protected by articulating the effective policies on both public and private health expenditures, environmental pollution, energy consumption, and economic growth. The attained results are theoretically and empirically consistent, and have important policy implications in the health sector.JEL codes: I10, I15, I18, C23