Health Economics I

Catalog description

This course teaches the economic approach to studying risky health behaviors such as cigarette smoking, drug use, alcohol abuse, risky sex, and poor diet and physical inactivity (leading to obesity), and suicide. We will examine in detail the research literature on the demand for health, economic models of addiction, the economic causes and correlates of risky health behaviors (e.g. education, prices, peers), and policies for modifying risky behaviors (e.g. taxes and other financial incentives, and providing information).Classes will begin with a lecture on how an aspect of microeconomic theory can be applied to the study of risky health behaviors, and testable predictions will be discussed. Critical discussions of the relevant health economics literature follow. Students will take turns presenting published research papers. You will write referee reports on three recent, cutting-edge working papers. Each student will also write an original research paper, testing predictions from microeconomic theory by acquiring suitable data and estimating the appropriate econometric model. You will present your research findings in a poster presentation and a research seminar.