An Analysis of Macro-level Determinants of Geographic Disparities in Health Expectancies

With growing health expectancy inequalities across countries in the world, understanding mechanisms behind these geographic variations has become one of the central policy and research questions. This chapter provides an overview of previous research findings about the macro-level factors related to health expectancy measures throughout the world. A special focus is placed on Europe (the member states of the European Union and the former Soviet Republics) as well as Southeast Asia (Japan and China). Prior research has consistently shown that socioeconomic development levels, labour market conditions, and welfare characteristics are associated with the health expectancy of populations in these parts of the world. The findings underscore the importance of considering countries’ socioeconomic and policy contexts to understand mechanisms of health inequalities. One of the major policy challenges that the world faces is to address global inequalities in population health status. Efforts toward achieving more balanced socioeconomic growth may contribute to improving global population health.