This paper considers an issue that has received little attention in the literature on health state evaluation: the relevance of the ex ante/ex post distinction in the assessment of quality of life. Ex post evaluations are based on experience of the health state being evaluated. Ex ante...

It has been proposed that cross-country comparisons of the technical efficiency of health production, estimated using data envelopment analysis (DEA), have useful applications for policy makers. In theory such an analysis utilises measures of the socioeconomic determinants of health relevant to...

Many developed countries are net recipients of skilled health professionals from developing countries. Potentially these movements provide major economic benefits to developed countries. The distribution of any benefits and any associated health and social costs, however, need investigation that...

This “Working Paper” consists of two documents. The first is a submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry “Implications of an Ageing Australia”. The second is a Research Note “Why Ageing is Unlikely to be a Problem for the Health Sector”. This was the key document submitted to...

The purpose of the report by Applied Economics was to determine whether or not the community’s expenditures on public health have been justified by the benefits obtained from them. Additionally, however the study extends the time frame and, on the basis of the historical evidence, seeks to...

One of the clearest predictions of economic theory is that an autonomous increase in supply will depress the price which equilibriates supply and demand. However, US evidence with respect to medical fees has been perverse: higher fees have been observed in areas with more doctors even after...

The theme of this paper is that recent and proposed health policy in Australia has focused upon issues of relatively minor significance while failing to adequately address major inequities and system deficiencies which have significant effects upon mortality, the quality of life and the fairness...

The funding of private health services is subject to differential arrangements, with limited allied health services available through the public system, but with private services funded entirely through private payments. This contrasts with private medical services (plus optometry), reimbursed...