The Impact of Income Inequality, Environmental Degradation and Globalization on Life Expectancy in Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: This study has investigated the impact of income inequality, globalization and environmental degradation on life expectancy in Pakistan. The study uses time series data for the period 1980-2015 for empirical analysis. Methodology: Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillip and Perron (PP) unit root tests are employed for examining the order of integration of the variables. Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach is used for investigating the cointegration among the variables of the model. For examining the causal relationship Granger Causality test is used. Findings: The results of the study reveal that income inequality and environmental degradation have negative and significant impact on life expectancy in Pakistan. On the other hand globalization has positive and significant impact on life expectancy in Pakistan. The results of Granger causality show that there is unidirectional causality running from all independent variables to dependent variable. Recommendations: The study opens new insights for policy makers.