Economic growth is the basis of increased prosperity. This makes the attainment of growth a key objective for governments across the world. The rate of growth can be affected by policy choices through the effect that taxation has upon economic decisions and through productive public...

Economic growth is the basis of increased prosperity. This makes the attainment of growth a key objective for governments across the world. The rate of growth can be affected by policy choices through the effect that taxation has upon economic decisions and through productive public...

Indonesia has made considerable progress over the years in improving the social conditions of its population, especially among disadvantaged groups, not least by raising government spending and strengthening social protection programmes. Nevertheless, in some respects social outcomes remain...

Greek health outcomes compare favourably with the OECD average. However, the health care system is seen as not working well by the population. One source of dissatisfaction is the high proportion of private household spending on health, including informal payments, while public health spending...

The health status of the Japanese is one of the best in the world. The healthcare system has no doubt contributed to this, though the current state of research in health economics does not permit the determination of the extent of such contribution. The Japanese system, based on social...

This paper reviews the performance of French health care system from an economic viewpoint. It also provides some policy recommendations. The health system in France is regarded as delivering high quality services, with freedom of choice and generally no waiting lists for treatments. Access to...

An ambitious reform to increase efficiency of the Portuguese health care system was launched in 2002. In contrast to previous attempts of gradual reforms, which were never fully implemented, the strategy has been to create a big bang in the health sector, making changes essentially irreversible....

This paper assesses the performance of the United States health system in an international context and discusses potential directions for reform. The US health system is unique among OECD countries in its heavy reliance on the private sector for both financing and delivery of health care. The...

In recent years, a series of wide-ranging reforms designed to make greater use of market mechanisms has succeeded in eliminating shortages, raising efficiency and improving citizen satisfaction. Nevertheless, spending accelerated after the reforms, and per capita spending on health is now one of...

This study reviews health-system reforms in OECD countries over the past several decades and their impact on the following policy goals: ensuring access to services; improving the <I>quality</I> of care and its outcomes; allocating an “appropriate” level of resources to health care (<I>macroeconomic...</i></i>