Demand and need; utility and demand; demand for health
as human capital; derived demand for health care; income and price elasticities; information asymmetries and agency relationships; externalities and publicness; supplier-induced demand.
On the third Thursday of every month, we speak to a recent graduate about their thesis and their studies. This month’s guest is Dr Martin Eden who has a PhD from the University of Manchester. If you would like to… Read More »Thesis Thursday: Martin Eden
Vaccine skepticism and hesitancy – the distrust and skepticism that some members of the public feel for vaccines, as well as for institutions that deliver and encourage vaccination – has emerged as a major threat to world health. Vaccine skepticism… Read More »Education versus anti-vaxxers: evidence from Europe
The agent relationship and information asymmetry are two features of healthcare economics – but how do they apply to public health policy around processed foods? Why is health different to other goods? Arrow’s 1963 seminal paper helped lay the foundations… Read More »Agent relationships and information asymmetries in public health
Authors of a paper entitled What can health psychologists learn from health economics: from monetary incentives to policy programmes note that they …believe that health psychologists would benefit from greater familiarisation with the methodologies, theories, and tools of economics”. I… Read More »Health economics and behaviour change: a workshop
The 1987 Bamako declaration promoted user or consultation fees for health care as a means to raise revenue and improve the quality of services. However, user fees may pose a barrier to access, and hence the key Sustainable Development Goal… Read More »Are user fees a barrier to health care in poor countries?
In a well-publicized snapshot of the challenge of ICU triage, Chang and colleagues wrote: Critical care services can be life-saving, but many patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) are too sick or, conversely, not sick enough to benefit. Intensive care… Read More »ICU triage: a challenge and an opportunity
Variations in admissions to NHS hospitals are the source of a great deal of consternation. Over the long-run, admissions and the volume of activity required of the NHS have increased, without equivalent increases in funding or productivity. Over the course… Read More »Variations in NHS admissions at a glance
In one interview I’ve read an ‘out’ voter describe how they voted for Brexit because they felt there was too much pressure on the NHS. I think it can be inferred that the believed cause of these pressures is immigration. I don’t… Read More »Some early thoughts on Brexit and the NHS
Today sees the publication of surgeons’ death rates on the MyNHS website (see Guardian and BBC stories). The website presents full lists of surgeons by specialty alongside either blue circles with a large ‘OK’ inside, grey circles with question marks, or… Read More »Is there any use in publishing surgeons’ death rates?
Incentives are widely and frequently used to influence preferences among people with the aim of achieving some socially beneficial end. These incentives include fines, rewards, and taxes. From the domain of health, Pigouvian taxes on foods deemed unhealthy and pricing… Read More »Incentives and social preferences