ANN ARBOR—Economic growth had a negative impact on Sweden’s health progress during the second half of the 20th century, which was opposite of the positive effects obtained during the first half of the 19th century.

The findings contrast beliefs that health conditions improve faster when strong economic growth occurs, said University of Michigan researcher Jose Tapia Granados.

And although the study analyzes data from Sweden, Tapia said the findings have implications for other countries. It is quite possible that a reversal of the relation between economic growth and health progress like the one described in Sweden had occurred during industrialization in countries like the United States or Britain, he said.

“For nations at low or medium levels of income and population health, it becomes a major issue to ascertain if they have reached the threshold where economic growth no longer promotes improvements in health,” said Tapia, an assistant research scientist in the School of Social Work and Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Tapia wrote the study?which appears in the Journal of Health Economics?with Edward Ionides, an assistant professor of statistics at U-M.

The study tracked Sweden’s economic growth and health progress, which is measured by the decline in mortality rates and the increase in life expectancy, in the last two centuries. Economic growth was strongly linked to health progress in the first half of the 19th century, then the association weakened in the next hundred years, Tapia said. By the 20th century, economic growth had a negative effect on health progress.

Economic growth and affluence strongly reduced mortality when most deaths were due to infectious disease. An increase in business and industrial activity can raise death rates when most fatalities are caused by cardiovascular disease, cancer and traffic injuries.

Researchers looked at the annual rate of change in gross domestic product (GDP) and the life expectancy during the two centuries. In the first half of the 19th century, the Swedish economy was highly dependent on agriculture. A good harvest increased GDP and reduced mortality, especially among infants and the elderly aged 70-89, the study showed.

During the second half of the 19th century, the study reported that economic growth was less dependent on harvests. mortality was less dependent on agricultural yields and economic growth as a result of a higher capacity to save food from years of good harvest and the ability to import.

Jose A. Tapia Granados