Democracy Does Improve Health

Abstract In this paper, we study the extent to which spread of democracy affects country-level health outcomes in 115 countries, between 1960 and 2015. To do this, use both level change measures our regressions, concentrating on within-country variations. Our finding is that a one standard deviation increase 0.35 associated with 0.11 life expectancy, even after accounting for various country time features. This corresponds an expectancy around 5 years initially, mean 54 years. However, not find measure be consistently influential. These results are robust employing alternative model specifications, using different subsamples data, estimation techniques. We also these critical effects retained when other status. particular, observe as rises, each infant mortality, child crude death decreases. We, therefore, conclude material role democratic institutions fostering population first-order relevance.