The health production function in South Asia: panel evidence on education, health expenditure, governance, and longevity.

This study examines the association of education, government effectiveness, health expenditure, economic growth, and urbanization with life expectancy in South Asia within Grossman's health capital framework. Using annual panel data for seven South Asian countries-Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka-over 2000-2025, the analysis investigates both long-run and short-run relationships. The empirical strategy combines panel unit root tests, panel ARDL estimation, Driscoll-Kraay standard errors, PCSE, FGLS, System GMM, and bootstrap panel causality tests. The results indicate a stable long-run relationship among the variables. Education, measured by school enrollment and adult literacy, is positively and significantly associated with life expectancy. GDP per capita also shows a positive and significant association. Health expenditure has a positive but model-sensitive association, suggesting that the effectiveness of spending may matter more than its level alone. By contrast, government effectiveness and urbanization are significantly associated with life expectancy but with negative coefficients in the estimated models. Bootstrap causality results indicate dynamic links between life expectancy and several explanatory variables. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of education, inclusive growth, efficient health spending, and better-managed urban development in shaping longevity across South Asia.