PERSPECTIVES IN HEALTH ECONOMICS

This paper, originally presented at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques d e Paris, October 12, 1993, provides a perspective on envisioned change s in the practice of health economics. Foreseen changes include: (1) S tudy of more homogeneous units of analysis; (2) More original data gat hering; (3) Increased attention to uncertainty and the supply of and d emand for information; (4) Increased attention to institutional struct ures and their effects on economic behaviour; (5) Expansion of relevan t tools for studying economic issues in health care; and (6) Continuin g breakdown of disciplinary barriers between health economics and othe r disciplines. Of these, the two overriding features will be increased emphasis on understanding the many roles of uncertainty in economic b ehaviour, institutions, and outcomes in health care, and in the use of more and more 'micro' data to study these issues. Charles E. Phelps i s currently Provost (Chief Academic Officer) of the University of Roch ester. Previously, he was Chair of the Department of Community and Pre ventive Medicine, and Professor of Political Science and Economics. Be fore that, he worked at the RAND Corporation, including on the RAND He alth Insurance Experiment. His recent research focuses on the dissemin ation of information in health care.