The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics

1. Overview , Peter Smith and Sherry Glied

The Organization of Health Care Systems

2. Health Systems in Industrialized Countries , Bianca K. Frogner, Peter S. Hussey, and Gerard F. Anderson

3. Health Systems in Low and Middle Income Countries , Anne Mills

4. The Political Economy of Health Care , Carolyn Tuohy and Sherry Glied

5. The Promise of Health: Evidence of the Impact of Health on Income and Well-Being , William Jack

Determinants of Health

6. Health Production , Kristian Bolin

7. Socioeconomic Status and Health: Dimensions and Mechanisms , David M. Cutler, Adriana Lleras-Muney, and Tom Vogl

8. Determinants of Health in Childhood , Michael Baker and Mark Stabile

9. Economics of Infectious Diseases , Ramanan Laxminarayan and Anup Malani

10. Economics of Health Behaviours and Addictions: Contemporary Issues and Policy Implications , Donald S. Kenkel and Jody Sindelar

11. Economic and Mental Health: An International Perspective , Richard G. Frank

Institutions of Health Care Finance

12. Public Sector Health Care Financing , Ake Blomqvist

13. Voluntary Private Health Insurance , Peter Zweifel

14. Health Care Cost Growth , Michael E. Chernew and Dustin May

15. User Charges , Erik Schokkaert and Carine Van de Voorde

Economic Problems of Health Care Finance

16. Insurance and the Demand for Medical Care , Mark V. Pauly

17. Guaranteed Access to Affordable Coverage in Individual Health Insurance Markets , Wynand P.M.M. van de Ven and Frederik T. Schut

18. Managed Care , Laurence Baker

The Institutions of Health Care Supply

19. Hospitals: Teaming Up , Pedro Pita Barros and Pau Olivella

20. Primary Care , Anthony Scott and Stephen Jan

21. The Global Health Workforce , Till Barnighausen and David E. Bloom

22. The Economics of the Biopharmaceutical Industry , Patricia M. Danzon

23. Disease Prevention, Health Care and Economics , Jane Hall

24. Long-Term Care , Jose-Luis Fernandez, Julien Forder and Martin Knapp

Economic Problems of Health Care Supply

25. Physician Agency and Payment for Primary Medical Care , Thomas G. McGuire

26. Provider Payment and Incentives , Jon B. Christianson and Douglas Conrad

27. Non-Price Rationing and Waiting Times , Tor Iversen and Luigi Siciliani

28. Increasing Competition between Providers in Health Care Markets: The Economic Evidence , Carol Propper and George Leckie

Assessing Performance

29. Measuring Organisational Performance , Jim Burgess and Andrew Street

30. Health System Productivity , Jack E. Triplett

31. The Methods of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis to Inform Decisions about the Use of Health Care Interventions and Programmes , Simon Walker, Mark Sculpher and Mike Drummond

32. Analysing Uncertainty in Cost-effectiveness for Decision Making , Susan Griffin and Karl Claxton

33. Health Utility Measurement , Donna Rowen and John Brazier

Economic Perspectives on Fairness

34. Concepts of Equity and Fairness in Health and Health Care , Jan Abel Olsen

35. Measuring Inequality and Inequity in Health and Health Care , Eddy van Doorslaer and Tom Van Ourti

36. Intergenerational Aspects of Health Care , Louise Sheiner

Economic Methodology and Health Policy

37. Econometric Evaluation of Health Policies , Andrew M. Jones and Nigel Rice

38. Health Economics and Policy: The Challenges of Proselytising , Alan K. Maynard and Karen Bloor

Healthcare Reform

For Discussion: From where do we start reforming health sector in poor countries? What would be entry points? What countries can be considered best practice- Thailand, Estonia, Rwanda? What lessons can be drawn from OECD countries?

Assorted on Open Government

International Open Government Partnership to Include at Least 22 Countries at Launch Historic global 


 Open Government Partnership

Jobs in PFM

Research Fellow/Manager - Budget Strengthening Initiative - Fixed Term Contract until March 2015

Deputy Director – Budget Strengthening Initiative - Fixed Term Contract until March 2015

Performance Auditing Best Practice

Climate Engineering: Technical Status, Future Directions, and Potential Responses;

Climate engineering technologies do not now offer a viable response to global climate change. Experts advocating research to develop and evaluate the technologies believe that research on these technologies is urgently needed or would provide an insurance policy against worst case climate scenarios--but caution that the misuse of research could bring new risks. Government reports and the literature suggest that research progress will require not only technology studies but also efforts to improve climate models and data. The technologies being proposed have been categorized as carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and solar radiation management (SRM). CDR would reduce the atmospheric concentration of CO2, allowing more heat to escape and thus cooling the Earth. For example, proposed CDR technologies include enhancing the uptake of CO2 in oceans and forests and capturing CO2 from air chemically for storage underground. SRM technologies would place reflective material in space or in Earth's atmosphere to scatter or reflect sunlight (for example, by injecting sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere to scatter incoming solar radiation or brightening clouds) or would increase the planet's reflectivity (for example, by painting roofs and pavements in light colors). GAO found these technologies currently immature, many with potentially negative consequences. Some studies say, for example, that stratospheric aerosols might greatly reduce summer precipitation in places such as India and northern China. Many experts advocated research because of its potential benefits but also recognized its risks. For example, a country might unilaterally deploy a technology with a transboundary effect. Research advocates emphasized the need for risk management, envisioning a federal research effort that would (1) focus internationally on transparency and cooperation, given transboundary effects; (2) enable the public and national leaders to consider issues before they become crises; and (3) anticipate opportunities and risks. A small number of those we consulted opposed research; they anticipated major technology risks or limited future climate change. Based on GAO's survey, a majority of U.S. adults are not familiar with climate engineering. When given information on the technologies, they tend to be open to research but concerned about safety.

Wholeheartedly agree with Matt Andrews

If only all development organizations were required to provide background stories like these for the innovations they so easily reproduce everywhere. One wonders if ministers of finance in French speaking African countries would so willingly agree to Medium Term Expenditure Framework reforms if they knew where these ideas came from (select advanced Anglophone countries like Australia), what kind of process MTEFs emerged from in these settings, what kind of political context they demand, what capacities they require etc. Ditto for just about every good, better or best practice one can think of. We need more of what ISS is providing: materials to help theorize what makes a best or innovative practice best or innovative and to assist us in thinking about whether these practices fit into new contexts...or what will be required to facilitate the fit. Visit their web site at http://www.princeton.edu/successfulsocieties/

New PFM Blogger

Matt Andrews

Carlo Cottarelli on Bloomberg

Head of Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF;“IMF’s Cottarelli Urges ‘Targeted’ Cuts of U.S. Budget”

Irish Fiscal Advisory Council

The government announced the establishment of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) on July 7, 2011. The IFAC is mandated to provide an assessment of:
(i) the soundness of official macro-fiscal forecasts;

(ii) the appropriateness of the fiscal stance (including the government’s stated medium-term budgetary objective); and

(iii) the consistency between budgetary plans and fiscal rules (the latter are to be specified in a Fiscal Responsibility Bill by year-end).

The IFAC will submit, at least three times a year, written reports to the Minister for Finance, which will automatically be communicated to the Oireachtas within 24 hours. This effectively means that the IFAC’s reports are published with the Minister having advance notice of their content. There are no restrictions, otherwise, on the Council’s communication with the public.

The IFAC comprises five members, appointed by the Minister for Finance for initial tenures of two to four years. The members will serve in a voluntary capacity, assisted by a small secretariat including full-time economist staff. The Council has been allocated initial funding for the remainder of 2011.

Among the range of fiscal councils in Europe, the IFAC appears most similar to the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council, both in terms of mandate and funding. For instance, the IFAC is charged with assessing, rather than producing, the official macro-fiscal forecasts, which explains its relatively modest resources compared with say, the U.K.’s Office for Budget Responsibility

-Ireland: Third Review Under the Extended Arrangement - Staff Report

A mathematician on Capital Budgeting

Priority-setting and capital budgeting. Allocating a budget often involves the comparisons of diverse projects whose benefits are difficult to directly estimate and then compare. Organizations also often confuse budget items defined by accounting conditions with actionable projects. A good budgeting process is built by creating useful "decision units," robust measurement criteria and a group process for obtaining inputs and finally ranking projects. Such budgeting processes are equally useful in private corporations and governmental organizations. I have developed such ranking processes for Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, ChevronTexaco. Included in the projects are rankings to allocate yearly budgets for contaminated site cleanups, repair priorities for oil pipelines and capital project rankings for electric utilities.

From John Kadvany

Risk: A Very Short Introduction

Table of Contents
1. Risk decisions
2. Defining risks
3. Analyzing risks
4. Risk perceptions
5. Risk communication
6. Reconciling risks
7. Risk, culture and society

Authors: Baruch Fischhoff and John Kadvany

Artists sentenced by Tax Authorities

Norwegian officials have sentenced the painter Odd Nerdrum to two years in prison on charges that he evaded paying the full amount of taxes on $2.6 million that he made selling artwork between 1998 and 2002.