life expectancy and economic growth in iran: smooth transition regression (str) approach

regarding the important role of health in economic growth and development, the purpose of the present paper is to investigate the impact of life expectancy, as the most important indicator of health, on economic growth in iran during 1965-2009. the estimated smooth transition regression (str) model supports a nonlinear threshold behavior in the relationship between life expectancy and economic growth in the country in a two regime structures with a threshold level of 55.34 years. in other words, our findings are both consistent with acemoglu and johnson (2007) for the negative impact and with demographic transition theory for the reducing effect of life expectancy on economic growth in iran. this shows the country is approaching the stage of the fertility transition, where the increase in life expectancy will bring about a decline in population.