HEALTH ECONOMICS

This course belongs to the free-choice teaching activities of the Master progamme in "Economics, Finance and Sustainability" curriculum "Economics - QEM". The course has the objective of providing the students with the knowledge and competencies that are required to analyse healthcare markets and the trade-off characterising the resource allocation in health. The course also aims to present empirical examples of the functioning of healthcare markets.

Knowledge and competencies:
- understand how healthcare markets work and be able to apply microeconomic tools to the demand and supply of healthcare services
- knowledge of the trade-offs characterising the resource allocation in health
- understand the motivation and modalities of public intervention in health

Application of acquired knowledge and skills:
- evaluate and employ tools for the analysis of patients' and providers' behaviours in health and of the functioning of healthcare markets
- evaluate the impact of public intervention in healthcare

Judgment and interpretation skills:
- evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the resource allocation and incentive mechanisms characterising healthcare markets
- being able to critically interpret the empirical evidence

basic microeconomics (consumer and producer theory, market equilibrium, average and marginal costs)
basic public economics (public intervention, public goods, and externalities, regulation)

Perfectly competitive markets vs the healthcare market
Demand for health and healthcare
Physicians and the production of health
Supply of health care: hospitals
The patient-doctor interaction
Provider payment and incentives
Health disparities
Healthcare expenditures
Demand for health insurance
Adverse selection and moral hazard
Public health economics

Main textbooks:
Bhattacharya, J., T. Hyde, and P. Tu, 2014, Health Economics, Palgrave McMillan, New York, NY.
Folland, S., Goodman, A. C., and M. Stano, 2017, The Economics of Health and Health Care, Routledge.

Additional references:
Zweifel, P., Breyer, F., and M. Kifmann, 2009, Health Economics, 2nd ed., Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg.
Sloan, H., 2012, Health Economics, MIT Press.
Culyer, A. J., 2014, Encyclopedia of health economics. Newnes.

An additional reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course

Written exam with open questions and analytical exercises. In case, a discussion of the main results of seminal scientific papers.

Lectures
In-class discussion of relevant papers
Presentation of empirical examples
Stata labs and practical sessions

English

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments

Ca' Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development