Health Economics

* Explains the issues and future challenges confronting healthcare systems * Equips the reader with the tools used in the international literature for analyzing these issues and challenges * Acquaints the reader with the crucial stylized facts and pieces of econometric evidence Health Economics presents a systematic treatment of the economics of health behavior and health care delivery. Appropriate both for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of economics, this text provides the background required to understand current research, presenting theoretical models as well as empirical evidence and summarizing key results. Without neglecting ethical concerns, modern microeconomic theory is applied to formulate theoretical implications and predictions. Issues discussed include the economic valuation of life and health, moral hazard in health care utilization, supplier-induced demand, the search for remuneration systems with favorable incentives, risk selection in health insurance markets, and technological change in medicine.