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The course features a series of lectures on health economics issues. Lectures are complemented by seminars.
The course provides students with a framework to understand principles of health economics, but also to understand health systems (their funding, pooling of funds, financing, purchasing, and provision of health care, and regulation of health systems). Topics regarding performance, effectiveness, and quality of health systems are also discussed. Learning goals of the course are for students to: 1/ understand health economic principles, market failures and theories associated with them 2/ understand functioning of health systems in developed countries, their fundamentals and recent developments 3/ understand measurements of health status, health system performance and efficiency 4/ understand efficiency measurements of healthcare providers 5/ use economic theory to explain motivation and behaviour of individual stakeholders 6/ use health economic theory and empirical findings to discuss up-to-date issues of health systems in developed countries 7/ assess proposed health policy and/or health systems changes using health economic theory and findings 8/ get an overview of empirical modelling in healthcare – most frequently used methods to assess health economics reforms and phenomena 9/ be aware of available datasets collecting health data and strategies to select topics for health economics research 10/ be able to design own health economics research Populations of developed countries are ageing, chronic diseases prevalence is on rise, all resulting in rising demand for health care. Technological progress brings innovations that transform into new, usually more efficient and safer, but also costlier, ways of treating diseases. These effects put pressure on public budgets which are used to finance health care and pose question of health systems’ financial sustainability without compromising access to needed health care for all citizens. At the same time, there are number of examples of poor quality and ineffectiveness of resource utilization in public health systems. Thus, the importance of understanding health economics is increasing. Poslední úprava: Votápková Jana, PhDr. Mgr., Ph.D. (02.02.2026)
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Requirements: It is highly recommended to attend all lectures and seminars, including the online guest lecture Composition of the final grade: 1. 40 % final exam Final exam will be health on May 20, 2026 at the IES (room and time TBA) 2. 20 % Presentation of a paper - group/individual work + presentation of own ideas for a paper Students will be divided into groups (no. of groups will be announced after final enrolment in SIS) Deadline for division into groups February 25, 2026 Instructions for class presentations: Each group will be assigned a paper for presentation (available in Moodle). Presentation must include slides. Length max 20 minutes The group presentation will be followed by individual presentations of group members, where each member will present one´s on ideas for a research proposal supported by other available research, dataset, variables (10 mins) A class discussion will conclude. Papers to choose from include: - Papers listed as seminar reading to support the lecture and induce class discussion, available for sign-up in Moodle Also own ideas are welcomed, however their presentation is subject to prior approval of the teacher 3. 15 % Participation in group discussions in class Active participation in class includes discussions of the topics, supportive reading and discussion during group presentations. Divided into: - 5% general class participation - 5 % preparation of slides and arguments for April 22, 2026. - 5 % discussion and participation during an online guest lecture on March 17
4. 5% HW for April 29 – list of research ideas from empirical papers discussed in lectures or seminars Think through the ideas we have come up so far prior to the lecture and come up with your own questions regardless of whether data is available or not. We will provide feedback to you together in class. Deadline April 27, 11.59 pm. Submission in Moodle. 5. 20 % research proposal for a health economics paper A research proposal should be 2-3 pages long, including abstract, short literature review, methods used, dataset analyzed. Written in LaTeX. It can by inspired by a paper presented by your group or presentation of any other paper in class by other groups or guest lectures Deadline May 18, 2026. Submission in Moodle. Late submission will be awarded 0 points. You are welcome to discuss the preliminary version with the instructor Grading scale: !! Three criteria – presentation, research proposal, exam - must be passed, i.e. it is necessary to score at least 51% from each of these core 3 criterion!! Poslední úprava: Votápková Jana, PhDr. Mgr., Ph.D. (02.02.2026)
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Core readings: 1. Bhattacharya, J., Hyde T., Tu, P. (2014) Health Economics Supportive reading for seminars: - Interesting papers that should capture your attention - Available under weeks in syllabus, available for student presentation to fulfill one of the requirements Poslední úprava: Votápková Jana, PhDr. Mgr., Ph.D. (02.02.2026)
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Structure of the course ALL LECTURES START each Wednesday at 2.00 pm Central European Time in room 105. SEMINARS will follow right after the lecture, with a short break. On March 17,2026 at 9 pm, there will be an online guest lecture by Andrea Menclová (due to time difference in New Zealand.) A link will be shared on Moodle. (The lecture is instead of February 25). Attendance is highly recommended, class participation at the guest lecture will be graded. The last lecture and seminar is on May 13, 2026. Final exam will take a written form on May 20, 2026 at the IES, time and place will be announced in class. Sign-up in SIS. A class will be set up on Moodle (https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=18650) for class and assignment administration. Password will be shared in class.
Lecture dates + seminar dates - syllabus: 1. Feb. 18 – Introduction. Health economics in the context of public economics. Data. Health as special goods. Actors in health. Why is healthcare market different? Externalities.
Reading: Olsen (2017), Principles in health economics and health policy. Ch 3 What makes the market for healthcare different, pp. 47-60 Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch1 Why health economics? pp. 1-5 2. February 25 – No class An online class of Andrea Menclova on March 17,2026 at 9 pm is scheduled instead. Deadline for division into presentation groups February 25, 2026 at 11.59 pm on Moodle
3. March 4 – Grossman model – demand for health Reading: Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch 2. Demand for health, pp. 8-27 Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch 3 Demand for health: The Grossman model, pp 28-50
4. March 11 – Inequality in health. Health insurance. Uncertainty Reading Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch 4 Socioeconomic disparities in health, pp 51-75 Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch 7 Demand for insurance, pp. 126 – 140 Olsen (2017), Principles in health economics and health policy. Ch 7 Uncertainty and health insurance, pp. 107-117
5. March 17 at 9 pm - online Guest Lecture by Andrea Menclová (University of Canterbury, New Zealand). Presentation topic: Drug warnings (work-in-progress paper) Andrea´s profile: https://profiles.canterbury.ac.nz/Andrea-Menclova/about Reading - The paper will be shared on Moodle prior to the lecture, obligatory class reading. Activity in the class of the guest lecturer is graded within activity points. Attendance is highly recommended.
6. March 18 – Adverse selection and moral hazard
Reading: Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch 8 Adverse selection: Akerlof´s market for lemons, pp 141 – 161 Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch 11 Moral hazard, pp 203 – 227
7. March 25 – Guest lecture by Mathias Kifmann Presentation topic: Social health insurance and competition: theory and evidence. Mathias´ profile: https://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/en/fachbereich-sozoek/professuren/kifmann/4team/kifmann-mathias.html Note that Mathias is also the co-author of Zweifel, P. et al (2009) Health Economics, 2nd Edition, which is our core class reading. Reading - The paper will be shared on Moodle prior to the lecture, obligatory class reading.
8. April 1 - Health care providers (physicians, hospitals). Competition of providers. Health labour market. Reading Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch. 5 The labour markets for physicians, pp. 78-99 Olsen (2017), Principles in health economics and health policy. Ch 10 Primary care, pp. 140-152 Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch. 6 The hospital industry, pp. 100 - 123
Deadline for division into group for discussion for April 22 (April 1)
9. April 8 – Governments and health policy. Public vs. private provision of health. System evaluations.
McPake et. al (2020), Health Economics: An international Perspective. Ch 13 Health systems, pp. 135 – 143 McPake et. al (2020), Health Economics: An international Perspective. Ch. 14 Tax and social health insurance mechanisms, pp 144 – 159 McPake et. al (2020), Health Economics: An international Perspective. Ch 15 Private financing mechanisms, pp. 160-172 Olsen (2017), Principles in health economics and health policy. Ch 8 Compulsory insurance, pp. 120-126 Olsen (2017), Principles in health economics and health policy. Ch 9 Patient payment, pp. 127 - 135 Olsen (2017), Principles in health economics and health policy. Ch 13 Economic evaluation and priority setting, pp 169 – 181 Olsen (2017), Principles in health economics and health policy. Ch 15 Equity issues: going beyond CBA and ICER, pp. 207 – 2Z| Zweifel et al. (2009) Health Economics. Ch 13 The political economy of healthcare, pp. 429 - 439
10. April 15 - Guest lecture by Sava Konstantinovic Presentation topic: Economic evaluation and value assessment in healthcare, specificities of pharmaceutical markets Sava´s profie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sava-konstantinovic/?originalSubdomain=be Reading: Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch. 12 Pharmaceuticals and the Economics of Innovation Zweifel et al. (2009) Health Economics. Ch 12. Market for pharmaceuticals, pp, 400-428.
11. April 22 – Magdaléna Kolínková Škodová (Advanced Healthcare Management Institute) Comparison of reimbursement methods. Reading: Olsen (2017), Principles in health economics and health policy. Ch 11 Secondary care: reimbursing hospitals, pp. 153-159 McPake et. al (2020), Health Economics: An international Perspective. Ch 16 Health systems around the world, pp. 173 – 184 Structure of the seminar: Discussion topic: Who Should Set the Rules? Market Contracting vs. Reimbursement Directives to set up contacts between HIF and providers Team A: Supporting free market, i.e. no Reimbursement directive Team B: Supporting Reimbursement directive as an anchor for contracts between HIFs and providers. - Each team will give a 15-minute presentation justifying the stance of the group based on literature review and theoretical models - After both presentations, 5 minutes is given to each team to respond - General discussion will conclude Content of the team presentation: o General economic theory, free market, regulation o Papers of own choice Supportive reading will be provided on Moodle prior to the class Deadline for HW: April 27, 2025 at 11.59 pm (Ideas for research), will be discussed in class on April 29
12. April 29 – Empirical research in health economics + selected methods - overview and datasets available for health research.
Reading: McPake et al. (2020), Health Economics: An international Perspective. Ch 23 Introductory applied health econometrics, pp. 271 – 289
Seminar: - Seminar papers read until now - HW: prepare questions that may stir further research and we will discuss them in the seminar (activity points).
13. May 6 - Health insurance cont. - The Rothschild-Stiglitz model. Reading: Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch 9 Adverse selection: The Rothschild-Stiglitz model, pp. 162 – 183 Sign up for the final exam!
14. May 13 – Provision of HC in the EU. Efficiency measurements. Health technology assessment Reading: Bhattacharya (2014), Health Economics. Ch. 14 Health technology assessment, pp. 278 – 299 Olsen (2017) Principles in health economics and health policy. Ch 2 Economics and Efficiency, pp. 17 - 45 Jacobs, R., Smith, P.C., Street, A. (2006) Efficiency in health care. Analytical techniques and health policy, Ch 3 Stochastic frontier analysis of cross-sectional data pp 44-68 Jacobs, R., Smith, P.C., Street, A. (2006) Efficiency in health care. Analytical techniques and health policy, Ch 5 Data envelopment analysis pp. 91-128 Mastromarco, C., Stastna, L., Votapkova, J. (2019) Efficiency of hospitals in the Czech Republic: Conditional efficiency approach. Journal of Productivity Analysis, 51, pp. 73-89
Seminar: Revision for the exam Deadline for Paper proposal May 18, 2026 at 11.59 pm
1. May 20, 2026 – Written final exam Time and place TBA
Poslední úprava: Votápková Jana, PhDr. Mgr., Ph.D. (02.02.2026)
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