The Impact of Corruption on Health Outcomes Empirical Evidence on EU-27

Abstract

In a world threatened by increasing perceived corruption, its effects upon the health of nations have been scarcely studied, in spite of the tremendous importance sustained health has held on the European agenda. The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of corruption upon health outcomes within an environmental performant and urbanised setting. The determinants of health outcomes measured as wellbeing, life expectancy and under-5 child mortality rate are estimated on an unbalanced panel data set covering the 2005–2020-time interval for the 27 member states of the European Union. The resulting econometric models validate the significance of corruption, environmental performance and urbanisation upon health outcomes: subjectively perceived corruption hampers the development of nations’ health while a clean environment with an increasing tendency of urbanisation has a positive impact upon the health outcomes of European nations. This study also sketches important policy implications for improving the health status of European countries.