Course Description

This course aims to explain and critically examine the major theoretical and empirical concepts in health economics. Its objective is to introduce students to various dimensions of health economics, how different indicators related to health are measured, and how outcomes and performance in these dimensions are evaluated. Students will be introduced to major debates in the domain of health and development, health and nutrition, fertility, poverty, health financing and health insurance, and the role of the state and institutions in delivery and access to health. It will also expose students to different methods and data sources used in empirical studies in health economics and aim to equip them with the skills required to evaluate and conduct such studies.

It is a stand-alone course and is being offered for the first time. This course is being developed as an open elective. The prerequisites for this course are introductory microeconomics. Some of the theoretical concepts in this class will be taught by building upon the concepts studied by students in previous introductory microeconomics courses.

As this course is offered as an open elective to non-economics students in their senior years, it has been designed as a mix of economic theory, empirical concepts grounded in research, and relevant policy discussions and debates in health economics.

While this course includes the main theoretical models of health economics and empirical research-based concepts and discussions in this domain, it is important to note that some of the sub-areas of health economics are being left out of the course. This course, while it talks about the health insurance market and its theoretical foundations, does not go into too much detail into healthcare financing. Furthermore, it does not cover sub-topics such as the operations of the pharmaceutical industry, technology, innovation in the health industry, and regulatory frameworks for the health industry in sufficient detail. While we introduce macroeconomics aspects of health in some discussions, we do not go into much detail in the macroeconomics of health, and primarily study this from a micro-theoretical framework

The main pedagogy structure for the course will be based on lectures, students-on-call assigned for different readings in the course, and in-class group discussions. The reading list prescribes two textbooks and recommends some optional texts, should students be interested. For each module, there are required readings from textbooks and research papers, where applicable. Students will be encouraged to develop an understanding of the theoretical foundations of health economics and its application to the real world. Assessments are designed to develop analytical and practical problem-solving skills. In the term paper, students will be asked to critically analyze and develop either a policy paper or a data-driven empirical paper on an assigned health economics problem. Students are expected to apply the principles and methods of health economics studied in class and draw on the recent literature on the topic.