Introduction to Health Economics

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course will introduce students to the economics of health care provision and payment. We will use methods from microeconomics to investigate how different aspects of the health care system function and to assess the implications for different policies designed to improve that functioning. We will use economic tools and techniques from the sub-disciplines of information economics, industrial organization, labor economics, public economics, behavioral economics, and decision theory to think about these questions. The primary goals of the course will be to (i) master different economic techniques in the context of health care markets and (ii) learn about the specific institutional details and policies relevant to those markets.