ICT penetration and life expectancy in emerging market economies: panel evidence from asymmetric causality analysis.

BACKGROUND: Life expectancy is a significant result indicator of public health and sustainable development. Therefore, one of the final objectives of all economic and social policies is to increase the life expectancy. In this context, a limited number of researchers have investigated the relationship between ICT penetration and life expectancy. However, multiple interaction channels exist between ICT penetration and life expectancy. Furthermore, the studies have usually focused on the effect of ICT penetration on life expectancy through regression and ignored the effect of life expectancy on ICT penetration to a large extent. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to the empirical literature by investigating the causal relationship between ICT indicators and life expectancy. METHODS: This study uses symmetric and asymmetric causality approaches to investigate the two-way interaction between ICT indicators and life expectancy in emerging market economies over the 1997-2020 period. Employment of the asymmetric causality test enables us to analyze the hidden relationships between ICT indicators and life expectancy, unlike the traditional causality test. RESULTS: The results of the symmetric causality test uncover a bidirectional causal interaction between mobile subscriptions and life expectancy but a one-way causal relationship from life expectancy to internet usage. However, the asymmetric causality test results uncover a unidirectional causal relationship between mobile subscriptions and life expectancy in China, Colombia, Czechia, Egypt, Greece, India, Kuwait and Turkiye due to positive shocks from mobile subscriptions. On the other hand, a bidirectional causal interaction exists between internet usage and life expectancy in all countries due to negative shocks from internet usage and life expectancy. Last, a unidirectional causal relationship exists between internet usage and life expectancy in all countries due to positive shocks from internet usage. CONCLUSION: ICT indicators significantly influence life expectancy health in a sample of emerging market economies. Therefore, internet usage and mobile devices are significant tools to improve life expectancy.

The relationship between renewable energy use and health expenditures in EU countries.

With the increased attention on renewable energy use especially in the European Union, it also becomes worthwhile to investigate the positive effects of renewable energy use on human development measures. As non-renewable energy use may contribute to health hazards, it makes sense to think that increased renewable energy use may positively influence public health or increase the funds available for health expenditures. This research therefore aims to explore the relationship between renewable energy use and health expenditures for 27 European Union member countries. The analysis indicates that the relationship is unidirectional for countries hat joined the EU before 2000 and bidirectional for those that joined after the year 2000. Also a country by country analysis indicates the direction of the relationship for individual countries for both groups. This research is unique in the sense that the causality analysis is separately conducted fort the two groups of EU members labeled as pre-2000 and post-2000.