363-1027-00L  Introduction to Health Economics and Policy

SemesterAutumn Semester 2020
LecturersC. Waibel
Periodicityyearly recurring course
CourseDoes not take place this semester.
Language of instructionEnglish


AbstractHealth expenditures constitute about 10% of GDP in OECD countries. Extensive government intervention is a typical feature in health markets. Risk factors to health have been changing with growing importance of lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity and lack of physical activity. This course gives an introduction to the economic concepts and empirical findings in health economics.
ObjectiveIntroduce students without prior economic background to the main concepts of health economics and policy to enhance students understanding of how health care institutions and markets function.

Please note that we will apply basic economic concepts to health care markets. Hence, master students with an economic background have to expect that a large share of the concepts will overlap with their previous courses. However, they are, of course, welcome to join the course.
ContentThe course gives an introduction to the economic concepts and empirical findings in health economics to enhance students understanding of how health care institutions and markets function. Motivated by the fact that health care markets are designed differently across countries, this course looks at the challenges in regulating health care markets. First, two important decisions of individuals will be analyzed: What types and amount of personal health care services does an individual demand? How much will health insurance coverage be purchased? In the second part, the supply side of health care markets will be discussed. What are the financial incentives of physicians, and how do these influence physicians’ treatment choices? What does it mean and imply that a physician is an agent for a patient? The choices made by societies about how health care services are financed and about the types of organizations that supply health care will be addressed in the third part. One important choice is whether a country will rely on public financing of personal health care services or encourage private health insurance markets. How could and should a public health insurance system be designed? The advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives will be discussed to provide a framework for analyzing specific types of health care systems.
LiteratureJay Bhattacharya, Timothy Hyde, Peter Tu, "Health Economics", Palgrave Macmillan.
Frank A. Sloan and Chee-Ruey Hsieh, "Health Economics", MIT Press.
Prerequisites / NoticeAlthough we apply basic economic concepts to health care questions, students should be aware that this course requires some mathematical skills in terms of maximization problems.

Please be prepared that this course might (partially) be run via zoom, depending on the situation.