Convergence of Health Status in the European Union: A Spatial Econometric Approach

In this paper we analyse the dynamics of health inequalities across the EU regions of NUTS II level in the time period 2002-2012. Our study is based on specific research methods. First, we apply a structural equation model (MIMIC model) to estimate the synthetic measure of health pressure index. Second, we apply existing tools developed in the economic growth literature to study health convergence measured by traditional indicators and the obtained MIMIC measure. To verify the hypothesis of betaconvergence we use spatial econometric models which additionally allow us to take into consideration the geographic dependence among the surveyed regions. We derive two main results. The first is about supporting the hypothesis on the impact of socioeconomic factors on the public health status. The second is about reduction in health inequalities in the years 2002-2012.