Open AccessMedical Tourism and the Egress of Economic Depression: The Case of Assisted Reproduction Services in Greece
Author(s) -
Christina Laspa
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of economics and public finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2377-1046
pISSN - 2377-1038
DOI - 10.22158/jepf.v5n2p227
Subject(s) - medical tourism , tourism , fertility , depression (economics) , affect (linguistics) , reproduction , population , business , domestic market , economics , total fertility rate , economic growth , health care , medicine , political science , international trade , family planning , research methodology , psychology , environmental health , biology , ecology , communication , law , macroeconomics
While the international literature has examined how the domestic population growth and domestic fertility rates affect economic growth, there is no research about how the foreign fertility rates can affect the domestic economic growth. The bridge on foreign fertility rates and domestic economic growth is the assisted reproductive health services provided through the market of medical tourism. Libertarian legal frameworks may attract health travelers for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and contribute to GDP growth from the side of the tourism industry. The present paper discusses this point of view as a vehicle for depressed economies such as Greece that enjoys a high expertise in IVF and tourism. A simplistic attempt of the potential turnover to the clinics is presented by estimating the future medically assisted births. The results give a clue of how a dynamic part of medical tourism can result beneficially for the exodus of economic depression.