Measuring and analyzing the impact of some economic and environmental variables on life expectancy at birth in Iraq during the period (2005-2023)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31272/jae.i151.1471Keywords:
Determinants of life expectancy at birth, time series data, nonlinear distributed lag autoregression.Abstract
Life expectancy at birth is a basic indicator for assessing the health, social and economic status of a population, as it expresses the level of quality of health care, living, nutrition, education, working conditions, and general safety in society. In this context, this research aims to measure and analyze the factors affecting life expectancy at birth in Iraq during the period (2005-2023). To achieve this, a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model was used, where life expectancy at birth as the dependent variable was regressed on seven explanatory variables that influence it.
The analysis results showed a direct and significant relationship between life expectancy at birth and GDP growth, health spending, and the age dependency ratio. Meanwhile, a significant inverse relationship was found between life expectancy and unemployment and inflation rates. As for carbon dioxide emissions and average temperatures, their effect on the dependent variable was found to be insignificant.
The adjusted coefficient of determination (R̅2) value indicates that approximately 99% of the changes occurring in the dependent variable are explained by the independent variables included in the model, and the remainder is due to variables not included in the model.
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