The Effect of Corruption on the Nexus Between Public Health Expenditure and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Government expenditure on health is an essential factor for the growth of any economy. However, the health system in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has not been receiving enough attention. The direct effect of public health expenditure and corruption on economic growth, as well as the role of corruption in the relationship between public health spending and economic
growth in 32 sub-Saharan African countries from 2000 to 2022, is examined by this study using fixed effect and the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) as an estimation technique. The results show that both public health expenditure and corruption negatively impact economic growth, while the joint effect of public health spending and corruption enhances economic growth in SSA. Furthermore, the findings reveal that inflation hurts economic growth whereas gross capital formation and trade openness have a positive effect on economic growth. It is recommended that the government should formulate policies that will control corruption and raise the level of  institutional quality in the SSA region.