Health capital accumulation and effective utilisation: a theoretical framework based on an extended Cobb – Douglas production function

Authors

  • Oksana V. Mashevskaya Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus
  • Zhang Yuting Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Keywords:

health capital, health capital accumulation, utilisation efficiency, health expenditure, healthcare, initiative «Healthy China», Cobb – Douglas production function, health human capital index, HHCI
Supporting Agencies
The research was carried out with the financial support of the China Scholarship Council (project LIUJINOU [2020] 565).

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the initiative «Healthy China» and the transformation of the demographic dividend, health capital has emerged as a critical determinant of national competitiveness and the long-term sustainability of economic development. Based on data from the China Statistical Yearbook, the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, and United Nations World Population Prospects, this article analyses current trends in the formation of China’s health capital and the structural challenges associated with this process. Building on an extended Cobb – Douglas production function, we propose a theoretical framework that integrates health capital into macroeconomic output analysis and introduce a comprehensive multidimensional health human capital index (HHCI) encompassing four key dimensions. Furthermore, we present an integrated policy framework grounded in a life-course approach to health capital and multi-stakeholder engagement, offering practical strategies to promote its accumulation and improve its utilisation efficiency. The findings provide a solid theoretical and methodological basis for fostering high-quality, sustainable economic growth amid China’s ongoing demographic and institutional transformations. 

Author Biographies

  • Oksana V. Mashevskaya, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    PhD (economics), docent; head of the department of financial control, analysis and audit, faculty of economics

  • Zhang Yuting, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    postgraduate student at the department of banking and financial technologies, faculty of economics

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Published

2025-12-31

Issue

No. 2 (2025): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Economics

Section

I. Health, Education, and Welfare

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How to Cite

[1]
Mashevskaya, O.V. and Yuting, Z. 2025. Health capital accumulation and effective utilisation: a theoretical framework based on an extended Cobb – Douglas production function. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Economics. 2 (Dec. 2025), 15–29.