Do Environmental Degradation, ICT, Health Expenditure, and Institutional Quality Affect Life Expectancy?

Life expectancy in China has been influenced by several environmental, technological, and institutional factors over the past decades. Air pollution, particularly CO2 emissions from rapid industrialization and urbanization, has been a major concern, contributing to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases that reduce population health. Meanwhile, the expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) has improved access to health services and medical information, supporting better health outcomes. Increased health expenditure has enhanced health care infrastructure, service delivery, and preventive programs, further promoting longevity. Strong institutional quality ensures effective policy implementation, transparency, and equitable access to health care, which collectively support higher life expectancy in China. Therefore, this study examines the impact of air pollution, ICT, health expenditure, and institutional quality on life expectancy in China. This study first examined the stationarity properties of the variables using the Augmented Dickey–Fuller and Phillips–Perron unit root tests and then tested for cointegration to identify the existence of long-run relationships. After confirming cointegration, the autoregressive distributed lag approach was used to estimate both short-run adjustments and long-run effects. To ensure the robustness of the long-run results, Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares was applied as an additional estimation technique to check the stability and consistency of the estimated coefficients. The finding shows that CO2 emissions has negative effect on life expectancy, while ICT, health expenditure and institutional quality have positive effect on life expectancy. To enhance life expectancy in China, the government should reduce CO 2 emissions through stricter environmental regulations and the promotion of renewable energy. Expanding ICT infrastructure and improving digital health literacy can increase access to health care services. Higher health expenditure and investment in preventive programs will strengthen health care quality and disease management. Strengthening institutional quality and ensuring transparent governance will improve the efficiency and equity of health service delivery.