Life Expectancy and its Determinants: Vector Error Correction Model

Abstract

Women life expectancy at birth determined by many factors. demographic, social, and economic factors. which include adult mortality rate, total fertility rate, education, and gross domestic product per capita. This research explained the effect of these factors on women life expectancy using Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The results revealed that women life expectancy in Saudi Arabia will increase over time and that total fertility rate has a positive significant effect on women life expectancy in the long run. Female tertiary education ratio, teenage maternal fertility rate, adult women death rate and GDP per capita have a negative significant impact on women longevity in long run. However, in short run there is no causality running from teenage maternal fertility rate, adult women death rate and GDP per capita. This model achieved all Diagnostics tests including serial correlation, normality, heteroscedasticity, and serial correlation among the model variables. These results emphasis that Saudi Arabia is in the third stage of demographic transition theory; the stage of mature industrial.