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Corresponding Author:
Muhammad Al-Ramadhan, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Reseach, Techno-Economics Division

Modeling Life Expectancy Improvement among Kuwaiti Population

Volume 71 - Issue 1, February 2018
(pp. 29-50)
JEL classification: C32, C51, I15, J11
Keywords: Socioeconomic Factors, Life Expectancy and Birth, Kuwait

Abstract

Similar to other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Kuwait has experienced a tremendous decline in mortality rates in recent decades. During this time period, life expectancy increased only moderately. Positive socioeconomic changes caused by greater prosperity are believed to have greatly contributed to the increase in longevity of the Kuwaiti population. However, the extent to which each socioeconomic indicator has contributed to the decline in mortality among Kuwaitis should be identified and quantified. This study investigates the factors underlying the observed increase in Kuwaiti life expectancy using time-series data for specific socioeconomic variables from 1970 to 2014, and a linear model is then developed for life expectancy at birth. The results confirm that better literacy rate and more government expenditures on health care and greater caloric intake are important factors that contributed to the increase of life expectancy at birth among Kuwaitis. In addition, per capita GDP income produced mixed results in respect to the short and long runs.


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