A global comparison of the impacts of social, economic, and political determinants on population health

This dissertation aims to investigate the associations between social, economic, and political determinants and population health on a global scale, including two parts:

1. Association between governance and population health: We obtained data between 1996 and 2010 for 149 countries. Good governance is significantly associated with higher life expectancy and lower under-five mortality, taking into account factors of development (mainly urbanization and economy) and disease control (mainly hygienic conditions and immunization rates).

2. Association between democracy and population health in less developed countries: We obtained data between 1970 and 2004 for 120 less developed countries. We found significantly lagged effect of democracy and three socioeconomic factors—economy, educational environment, and nutritional status—on increased life expectancy at birth and decreased under-five mortality rates. Changes in political regime toward or away from democratic authority exerts persistently effects on under-five mortality rates decrease during the subsequent 1−10 years while the effects are more predictive for life expectancy increase after a lag of 3+ years.

The findings of this dissertation suggest global health practice on promoting a country’s need for better governance and democracy.