Author Description

This text on the economics of the financing and provision of health care comes at a particularly appropriate time given the proposed reforms of the NHS. The volume attempts to provide an analytical perspective within which the choice of various health care systems can be evaluated. Economic arguments are presented which suggest why market failure is so extensive in this sector and, consequently, why regulation in both financing and provision is necessary. There is a full discussion of various problems in the health care sector output measurement, the definition of efficiency, and the problems of monitoring performance. The reforms of the British health care sector are discussed in the light of these difficulties and the volume attempts to provide a perspective within which various systems can be evaluated.