Investigating the asymmetric effect of foreign direct investment and government health expenditure on population health in Iran

Improvement in human capital is considered as a critical catalyst to economic growth and development in the macroeconomic literature. Specifically, the neoclassical endogenous growth model posits that, growth in human capital impacts positively on output per worker in the long run. Hence, we have presented an empirical model to test the asymmetric effect of foreign direct investment and government health expenditure on population health in Iran using the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model over the period of 1974-2021. The results of estimation of long-term coefficients for positive and negative changes in foreign direct investment and government health expenditure on population health showed that both long-term coefficients are asymmetric, positive and significant. At the same time, there is a positive and significant relationship between trade openness and population health in the long run. Also, the results showed that there is no significant relationship between the relevant variables and the health of the population in the short run. Hence, we have presented an empirical model to test the asymmetric effect of foreign direct investment and government health expenditure on population health in Iran using the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model over the period of 1974-2021. The results of estimation of long-term coefficients for positive and negative changes in foreign direct investment and government health expenditure on population health showed that both long-term coefficients are asymmetric, positive and significant. At the same time, there is a positive and significant relationship between trade openness and population health in the long run. Also, the results showed that there is no significant relationship between the relevant variables and the health of the population in the short run.