How bad are the growth hampering effects of non-communicable diseases? The case of developing countries

This paper attempts to estimate the impact of Non-Communicable Diseases on economic growth in developing countries. In fact, the literature has confirmed the existence of causal liaisons between the epidemiological burden of diseases and macroeconomic aspects. This analysis is conducted through a dynamic panel of 29 middle-income countries around the Mediterranean basin and Central Asia over the period between 1995 and 2016 using the System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) to account for the potential endogeneity of the explanatory variables. The robustness and consistence of the estimates was verified by statistical tests and by the estimation of alternative versions of the basic specification.