On the Constrained Contribution of Advances in Medical Knowledge to the Economic Growth of Developing Countries

The conjectures examined are that: (i) advances in the medical knowledge are likely to have comparatively little (resp. considerable) impact on the rate of the growth of gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC) in a poor developing country if economic institutions are weak (resp. adequate); (ii) apparently strong economic institutions will have comparatively little (resp. considerable) impact on this rate of economic growth in this country if previously the level of health had not been (had been) raised to a minimum threshold level. The (limited) evidence presented indicates that the contribution that advances in medical knowledge are likely to make, in raising the rate of growth of GDPPC in developing counties, appears to be constrained at least by the level of economic institutions present in the country concerned.