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Table 1 Matrix of economic factors at local, national and international level

From: The macro-economic determinants of health and health inequalities—umbrella review protocol

 

Local level

National

International

Illustrative example of impact on health (if known)

Category 1: market regulation

 

Competition including legislation, consideration of externalities in pricing, fiscal measures, e.g. tax, market structure

Trade policy

Regulation of the tobacco market, via taxation and restrictions on advertisement and right to trade with tobacco has been associated with a range of benefits such as reduced heart disease [25]

Category 2: institutions

 

Central bank, banks, micro-finance, mortgages, startups. Legislation and regulation of organisations

International organisations, e.g. International Monetary Fund, World Bank, multinational firms, World Trade Organisation

Loans issued by the IMF and subsequent tuberculosis mortality [26]

Category 3: supply of money, finance and loans

Local currencies, debt

Interest rates, inflation, deflation, wages, supply of money or credit, macro-economic policy, fiscal policy, financial crises, monetary policy, structural adjustment policies, natural resources

International lending, foreign aid, financial transactions tax, capital controls

Financial crises and suicide rates [27]

Category 4: balance between public, private and third sector

Land tenure

Informal economies, shadow economies, social enterprises and cooperatives

Structure and scope of government, privatization and nationalization, taxation, tax avoidance, government expenditure and welfare provision, property rights

 

Mass privatization and mortality in the former Soviet Union [28]

Category 5: labour

Firm governance, structure, ownership, behavior,

Trade unions, employment, unemployment, minimum wage, labor force size and structure

 

Unemployment and suicide [29]

OR

Overwork and stroke [30]

Category 6: production and consumption

Income, wealth, distribution

Industrialisation, economic growth and aggregate productivity

 

Income inequality and mortality [31]

Category 7: approaches to economy

Regional economics

Capitalist, socialist, transitional, Keynesian, Marxian, neoclassical, ecological economics

 

Political traditions more committed to redistributive economic policies may lead to improvements in the health of populations [32]

  1. Some factors could be in multiple categories. They have been assigned to the most relevant category