When more is less: Do information and communication technologies (ICTs) improve health outcomes? An empirical investigation in a non-linear framework

doi:10.1016/j.seps.2021.101218

Socio-Economic Planning Sciences

Volume 80, March 2022, 101218

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101218 Get rights and content

Under a Creative Commons license

Open access

Highlights

•: We investigate the influence of ICT on the physical health outcomes of nations.
•: A sample of 185 countries (54 high-income and 131 low-income countries) is used over the analysed period 2005-2018.
•: The parametric regression analysis of unbalanced panel data and quadratic models are used.
•: We validate the influence of ICT upon life expectancies, mortality rates and measles immunisation rates.
•: Our results shed new light on the ICT infrastructure - health status nexus as they support the inverted U-shaped relationship.

Abstract

The purpose of our research is to investigate the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) on the physical health outcomes of nations. The covered countries are 185 (54 high-income and 131 low-income countries, also analysed on subsamples) and the period of the analysis is 2005–2018. We use parametric regression analysis of unbalanced panel data and our quadratic models validate the influence of ICT upon life expectancies, mortality rates and measles immunisation rates, controlling for economic prosperity, cultural dimensions and environmental performances. Our results are original within the specialized literature, shedding new light on the ICT infrastructure - health status nexus as they support the inverted U-shaped relationship between internet users and mobile cellular subscriptions as ICTs proxies on the one hand and population health outcomes proxies on the other. We also validate a multiplier effect of ICT proxies upon mortality rates from high-income countries to low-income countries, as follows: the negative effect of Internet access and online information usage is 3.34 times stronger in low-income countries compared to high-income countries. These findings are robust to various estimation techniques, alternative measures of ICT or health and various added controls. The drawbacks are major: in a world in which healthcare programs and policies consider digital inclusion, the limits of using technologies for the benefit of one's health have to be firmly determined. From regular individuals to top policymakers, one should consider when more ICT infrastructure becomes actually less for people's health status.

Keywords

ICT

Life expectancy

Mortality

Immunisation

Parametric regression

JEL classification

L86

I18

I31

Z10

She is affiliated at Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Cluj-Napoca, Department of Finance, Street Teodor Mihali, no. 58–60, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She obtained her Ph.D. in 2004 from Babes-Bolyai University, Romania. Since 2017, she has been a professor at Department of Finance, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania. In the same year she became Phd Supervisor in the field of Finance within Doctoral School of Economics, the same faculty. Her areas of interest include public finance, health economics, economic and financial crime, financial analysis.

She is affiliated at Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Cluj-Napoca, Finance Department, Teodor Mihali Street, no. 58–60, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Viorela Ligia Văidean obtained her PhD in Finance in 2010 from Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, with a thesis on the social health insurances. In 2015 she graduated her postdoctoral studies with a thesis on empirical evidences for the determinants of population health. Her research areas include health economics topics, corporate finance and financial management.