This groundbreaking Handbook brings together the two timely subject matters of political economy of health and health care into one comprehensive book. Containing up-to-date discussions on these key topics, it provides an interdisciplinary approach and a better understanding of health policy making. Highlighting the key theoretical and empirical debates in academia and policy across a variety of scholarly groups, this Handbook shows the differing methods and principles applied while sharing the common goal of understanding the institutional mechanisms, constraints and determinants that influence decision-making. Split into six thematic parts, the expert contributors discuss the design of health care systems, political markets, financing and policy reforms, and healthcare during pandemics, as well as providing insightful lessons to be learnt for the future. Scholars and professionals interested in an in-depth state-of-the-art companion to the main issues under discussion of the effects of the design in our health systems, along with the constraints that they face, will find this Handbook an excellent resource.

With the creation of the Mediterranean partnership and the recent move towards the creation of the Union for the Mediterranean in 2008, a new emphasis is placed on the Mediterranean in the study of European Integration.

This book brings together a collection of experts to address this important new area of study and discuss issues such as development, aid, labour, markets, human capital investment, Europeanization and institutional reform.

The LSE Companion to Health Policy covers a wide range of conceptual and practical issues from a number of different perspectives introducing the reader to, and summarising, the vast literature that analyzes the complexities of health policy. The Companion also assesses the current state of the art. Health policy is a wide-ranging subject covering many academic disciplines, but what most studies in health policy have in common is an interest in applying theory to improve practice. This Companion brings academic rigor to bear evidence on a range of central areas within health policy. It covers key issues on the quality, access and inequalities in health and health care; supply and health markets; insurance and expenditures; pharmaceuticals and new technologies; ageing and long-term care; and behavior and health production. This unique Companion on health policy contains the most important features for health system reform at a time of funding constraints and will therefore hold great appeal for policy analysts and makers, students, academics and management professionals. Contributors: S. Allin, R.G. Bevan, R. Butterfield, C. Campbell, A. Comas-Herrera, Z. Cooper, J. Costa-Font, M. Di Cesare, H.A. Elgazzar, J.-L. Fernandez, A. Gibbs, C. Henderson, C. Hernandez-Quevedo, L. Kossarova, C. Masseria, A. McGuire, P. Mladovsky, A. Morton, M. Murphy, I. Papanicolas, M. Raikou, C. Rudisill, V. Serra-Sastre, C. Stavropoulou, N. Varol, J.M. Wiener, R. Wittenberg, V. Zigante

The LSE Companion to Health Policy covers a wide range of conceptual and practical issues from a number of different perspectives introducing the reader to, and summarising, the vast literature that analyzes the complexities of health policy. The Companion also assesses the current state of the art. Health policy is a wide-ranging subject covering many academic disciplines, but what most studies in health policy have in common is an interest in applying theory to improve practice. This Companion brings academic rigor to bear evidence on a range of central areas within health policy. It covers key issues on the quality, access and inequalities in health and health care; supply and health markets; insurance and expenditures; pharmaceuticals and new technologies; ageing and long-term care; and behavior and health production. This unique Companion on health policy contains the most important features for health system reform at a time of funding constraints and will therefore hold great appeal for policy analysts and makers, students, academics and management professionals. Contributors: S. Allin, R.G. Bevan, R. Butterfield, C. Campbell, A. Comas-Herrera, Z. Cooper, J. Costa-Font, M. Di Cesare, H.A. Elgazzar, J.-L. Fernandez, A. Gibbs, C. Henderson, C. Hernandez-Quevedo, L. Kossarova, C. Masseria, A. McGuire, P. Mladovsky, A. Morton, M. Murphy, I. Papanicolas, M. Raikou, C. Rudisill, V. Serra-Sastre, C. Stavropoulou, N. Varol, J.M. Wiener, R. Wittenberg, V. Zigante

The healthcare sector is one of the fastest growing areas of social and public spending worldwide, and it is expected to increase its government shares of GDP in the near future. Truly global in its scope, this book presents a unified, structured understanding of how the design of a country's health institutions influence its healthcare activities and outcomes. Building on the 'public choice' tradition in political economy, the authors explore how patient-citizens interact with their country's political institutions to determine the organisation of the health system. The book discusses a number of institutional influences of a health system, such as federalism, the nature of collective action, electoral competition, constitutional designs, political ideologies, the welfare effects of corruption and lobbying and, more generally, the dynamics of change. Whilst drawing on the theoretical concepts of political economy, this book describes an institution-grounded analysis of health systems in an accessible way. We hope it will appeal to both undergraduate and graduate students studying health economics, health policy and public policy. More generally, it can help health policy community to structure ideas about policy and institutional reform.

The healthcare sector is one of the fastest growing areas of social and public spending worldwide, and it is expected to increase its government shares of GDP in the near future. Truly global in its scope, this book presents a unified, structured understanding of how the design of a country's health institutions influence its healthcare activities and outcomes. Building on the 'public choice' tradition in political economy, the authors explore how patient-citizens interact with their country's political institutions to determine the organisation of the health system. The book discusses a number of institutional influences of a health system, such as federalism, the nature of collective action, electoral competition, constitutional designs, political ideologies, the welfare effects of corruption and lobbying and, more generally, the dynamics of change. Whilst drawing on the theoretical concepts of political economy, this book describes an institution-grounded analysis of health systems in an accessible way. We hope it will appeal to both undergraduate and graduate students studying health economics, health policy and public policy. More generally, it can help health policy community to structure ideas about policy and institutional reform.

Technological change in healthcare has led to huge improvements in health services and the health status of populations. It is also pinpointed as the main driver of healthcare expenditure. Although offering remarkable benefits, changes in technology are not free and often entail significant financial, as well as physical or social risks. These need to be balanced out in the setting of government regulations, insurance contracts, and individual's decisions to use and consume certain technologies. With this in mind, this book addresses the following important objectives: to provide a detailed analysis of what technological change is; to identify drivers of innovation in several healthcare areas; to present existing mechanisms and processes for ensuring and valuing efficiency and development in the use of medical technologies; and to analyze the impact of advances in medical technology on health, healthcare expenditure, and health insurance.
Each of the seventeen chapters summarizes an important issue concerning the innovation debate and contributes to a better understanding of the role innovation has both at the macro level and at the delivery (meso) and micro level in the healthcare sector. The effectiveness of innovation in improving people's welfare depends on its diffusion and inception by the relevant agents in the health production process, and this book recognizes the multi-faceted contribution of policy makers, regulators, managers, technicians, consumers and patients to this technology.
This book offers the first truly global economic analysis of healthcare technologies, taking the subject beyond simply economic evaluation and exploring the behavioral aspects, organization and incentives for new technology developments, and the adoption and diffusion of these technologies.