Public health financing as a driver of economic growth and equity: Evidence from Morocco

Elmaati Errachiq, Redouane Kaiss, Nabil Ouarsafi, Abderraouf Hilali

Article ID: 8489
Vol 4, Issue 5, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.23812/ssd8489

Download PDF

Abstract

This paper analyzes the economic growth and health financing in Morocco in connection with the importance of health investment to sustainable economic growth. The available literature indicates that the enhancement of population health is one of the factors that help an economy to improve, especially when governments decide to allocate more funds to the health sector and also enhancing access to health care services. A healthier population is also likely to be more productive which will improve labor efficiency, decrease absenteeism and boost the economy eventually. To investigate these relationships, this study employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach, which is particularly suitable for small-sample time-series data with variables integrated of mixed orders I (0) and I (1). The econometric framework combines unit root testing, cointegration analysis, long-run estimation, and error correction modelling to examine both the short-run and long-run effects of public health financing on economic growth and maternal health outcomes in Morocco over the period 1980–2015. The empirical findings reveal that increased public health financing significantly promotes economic growth while reducing maternal mortality. Furthermore, the results indicate that public health expenditure mitigates the adverse effects of income inequality on health outcomes, highlighting the importance of sustained public investment in healthcare for achieving inclusive and sustainable development. There are multiple indicators that are associated with economic performance, income distribution, and health outcomes which are taken into account to reflect the multidimensional character of the relationship between economic growth and health investment. The empirical evidence indicates that greater public health financing is related with improvements in health outcomes especially with decreases in the maternal and infant demise rates. Besides, the results indicate that inequality in the distribution of income and the policies on health investment is positively related to economic development and social well-being in Morocco.


Keywords

public funding; health system; economic growth; public health; ARDL bounds testing


References

1.         OECD. The well-being of nations: The role of human and social capital. OECD Publishing; 2001. doi: 87/9789264189515-en

2.         Cui Y, Liu G, Yao Y. The impact of health on growth: From the perspective of economic structure evolution. Health Economics Review. 2025; 15: 57. doi: 10.1186/s13561-025-00636-5

3.         Rumpel A, Tempes J. Access to health care for forcibly displaced people as an aspect of health (in)equality. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems. Palgrave Macmillan; 2023. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_393-1

4.         Barhoumi KE, Haisoufi D, Kasouati J, Bouaiti EA. Challenges to universal health coverage: A systematic review with implications for the Moroccan health system. Multidisciplinary Reviews. 2025; 9(3): 2026122. doi: 10.31893/multirev.2026122

5.         Becker GS. Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education. Columbia University Press; 1964.

6.         Romer PM. Endogenous technological change. Journal of Political Economy. 1990; 98(5 Pt 2): S71–S102. doi: 10.1086/261725

7.         Behrman JR. The impact of health and nutrition on education. The World Bank Research Observer. 1993; 8(1): 81–111. doi: 10.1093/wbro/11.1.23

8.         Durlauf SN, Johnson PA, Temple JRW. Growth econometrics. Handbook of Economic Growth. 2005; 1: 555–677. doi: 10.1016/S1574-0684(05)01008-7

9.         Alghannam R, Alharbi A. Assessing the impact of government healthcare expenditure and life expectancy on economic growth in Saudi Arabia: An econometric time-series study (2000-2023). Health Economics Review. 2026; 16(1): 13. doi: 10.1186/s13561-026-00720-4

10.      Chakroun M. Health and economic growth: new evidence from a panel threshold model. Cogent Economics & Finance. 2024; 12(1): 2331010. doi: 10.1080/23322039.2024.2331010

11.      López-Casasnovas G, Rivera B, Currais L. Health and economic growth: Findings and policy implications. MIT Press; 2005.

12.      Ginn W. Healthcare expenditures and economic growth: Evidence via panel local projections. The European Journal of Health Economics. 2025; 26(6): 877–892. doi: 10.1007/s10198-024-01750-7

13.      Khaleghian P, Das Gupta M. Public management and the essential public health functions. World Development. 2005; 33(7): 1083–1099. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.04.001

14.      El Baouchari N, Raouf R. Impact of health on labour productivity in Morocco: Insights from dynamic ARDL and KRLS techniques. Journal of Global Sustainability and Development. 2024; 1(1): 7–25. doi: 10.57017/jgsd.v1.i1.01

15.      Mahumud RA, Hossain G, Hossain R, et al. Impact of life expectancy on economics growth and health care expenditures in Bangladesh. Universal Journal of Public Health. 2013; 1(4): 180–186. doi: 10.13189/ujph.2013.010405

16.      Rivera B, Currais L. Income variation and health expenditure: Evidence for OECD countries. Review of Development Economics. 1999; 3: 258–267. doi: 10.1111/1467-9361.00066

17.      Suhrcke M, Urban D. Are cardiovascular diseases bad for economic growth? Health Economics. 2010; 19(12): 1478–1496. doi: 10.1002/hec.1565.

18.      Celik EU, Omay T, Tengilimoglu D. Convergence of economic growth and health expenditures in OECD countries: Evidence from non-linear unit root tests. Frontiers in Public Health. 2023; 11: 1125968. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1125968

19.      Suhrcke M, Urban D. Are cardiovascular diseases bad for economic growth? Health Economics. 2006; 15(8): 815–832. doi: 10.1002/hec.1104

20.       Hu B, Mendoza RU. Public health spending, governance and child health outcomes: Revisiting the links. World Bank; 2013. doi: 10.1596/13262

21.      Bokhari FAS, Gai Y, Gottret P. Government health expenditures and health outcomes. Health Economics. 2007; 16(3): 257–273. doi: 10.1002/hec.1190

22.      Ayipe F I, Tanko M. Public health expenditure and under-five mortality in low-income Sub-Saharan African countries. Social Sciences & Humanities Open. 2023; 8(1): 100570. doi: 10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100570

23.      Harttgen K, Misselhorn M. A multilevel approach to explain child mortality and undernutrition in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. IAI Discussion Papers, No. 14. Göttingen: Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research; 2006.

24.      Wagstaff A, Cotlear D, Eozenou P, Buisman L. Measuring progress toward universal health coverage: With an application to 24 developing countries. Oxford Review of Economic Policy. 2015; 31(1): 147–189. doi: 10.1093/oxrep/gru009

25.      Bourque M. Managerialism and the transformation of nationalized health systems: The cases of Quebec and the U.K. Revue Gouvernance / Governance Review. 2007; 4(1). doi: 10.7202/1039117ar

26.      Ministry of Health, Morocco. Health sector performance report. Ministry of Health; 2012.

27.      Al Hassani W, El Achhab Y, Nejjari C, et al. Health workforce trends and planning in Morocco: A READ-based systematic document analysis. BMC Research Notes. 2025; 19(1): 6. doi: 10.1186/s13104-025-07578-5

28.      Roudijk B, Donders R, Stalmeier P. A threshold explanation for the lack of variation in negative composite time trade-off values. Quality of Life Research. 2022; 31: 2753–2761. doi: 10.1007/s11136-022-03155-6

29.      Goodman JE, Rhomberg LR, Cohen SM, et al. Challenges in defining thresholds for health effects: Some considerations for asbestos and silica. Frontiers in Epidemiology. 2025; 5: 1557023. doi: 10.3389/fepid.2025.1557023

30.      Azevedo MJ. The state of health system(s) in Africa: Challenges and opportunities. In: Historical Perspectives on the State of Health and Health Systems in Africa. Springer; 2017. pp. 1–73. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-32564-4_

31.      Piech K. Health care financing and economic performance during the coronavirus pandemic, the War in Ukraine and the Energy Transition Attempt. Sustainability. 2022; 14(17): 10601. doi: 10.3390/su141710601

32.      Musah A, Aawaar G, Musah G, et al. Financial development, public health financing, and health outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. BMC Public Health. 2025; 25: 2943. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-24404-6

33.      Mugisha EK. Public health financing strategies in low-resource countries. IDOSR Journal of Experimental Sciences. 2026; 12(1): 59–68. doi: 10.59298/IDOSR/JES/06/1215968

34.      Molina-Salazar R, Carbajal-de Nova C, Fajardo-Ortiz G. Financing of the Mexican health system (1980–2007) and equity. Pratiques et Organisation des Soins. 2010.

35.      Pesaran MH, Shin Y, Smith RJ. Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. Journal of Applied Econometrics. 2001; 16: 289–326. doi: 10.1002/jae.616

36.      World Bank. World Development Indicators. Morocco: Macroeconomic indicators, including GDP per capita, public health expenditure, fertility rate, and life expectancy. 2024.

37.      Narayan PK. The saving and investment nexus for China: Evidence from cointegration tests. Applied Economics. 2005; 37: 1979–1990. doi: 10.1080/00036840500278103

38.      Gupta R, Beg QK, Lorenz P. Bacterial alkaline proteases: Molecular approaches and industrial applications. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 2002; 59(1): 15–32. doi: 10.1007/s00253-002-0975-y

39.      Bokhari FA, Gai Y, Gottret P. Government health expenditures and health outcomes. Health Economics. 2007; 16(3): 257–273. doi: 10.1002/hec.1157

40.      Isreal Akingba IO, Kaliappan SR, Hamzah HZ. Impact of health capital on economic growth in Singapore: An ARDL approach to cointegration. International Journal of Social Economics. 2018; 45(2): 340–356. doi: 10.1108/IJSE-12-2016-0376

41.      Chilakam N, Lakshminarayanan V, Keremutt S, et al. Economic burden of mosquito-borne diseases in low- and middle-income countries: Protocol for a systematic review. JMIR Research Protocols. 2023; 12: e50985. doi: 10.2196/50985

42.      Gupta S, Verhoeven M, Tiongson ERT. The effectiveness of government spending on education and health care in developing and transition economies. European Journal of Political Economy. 2002; 18(4): 717–737. doi: 10.1016/s0176-2680(02)00116-7

43.      Ayipe FI, Tanko M. Public health expenditure and under-five mortality in low-income Sub-Saharan African countries. Social Sciences & Humanities Open. 2023; 8(1): 100570. doi: 10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100570

Supporting Agencies



Copyright (c) 2026 Elmaati Errachiq, Redouane Kaiss, Nabil Ouarsafi, Abderraouf Hilali

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


This site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).