Objectives – Purchasing has been promoted as a key policy instrument to improve health system performance. Despite its widespread adoption, there is little empirical evidence on how it works, the challenges surrounding its implementation, its impact, and the preconditions for it to function...

The first section of this volume is concerned with the changing context for health financing in developing and transitional countries. Two chapters address contemporary issues. The first, by Cristina Gutiérrez-Delgado and Veronica Guajardo-Barrón, describes the challenges created by the...