Background:Background: The credibility of contingent valuation studies has been questioned because of the potential occurrence of scope insensitivity, i.e. that respondents do not react to higher quantities or qualities of a good. Abstract: Objective:Objective: The aim of this study was to...

Introduction: Standard methods of economic analysis may not be suitable for local decision making that is specific to a particular population. Background: We describe a new three-step methodology, termed `population cost-impact analysis', which provides a population perspective to the costs and...

This paper reconsiders the evidence and several of the key arguments associated with the theory of supplier-induced demand (SID). It proposes a new theory to explain how ethical behaviour is consistent with SID. The purpose of a theory of demand and one criterion for the evaluation of a theory...

The debate surrounding whether the findings of efficacy studies are applicable to real-world treatment situations is ongoing. The issue of lack of applicability due to a lack of clinical heterogeneity could be addressed by employing less restrictive inclusion criteria. Given that health economic...

Cost-of-illness (COI) studies seemingly provide a solid foundation for quantifying the potential benefits of illicit drug policy interventions that reduce drug use at the population level. However, their usefulness is severely limited. In this paper, we suggest several improvements to substance...

Early childhood intervention programmes have emerged in recent years with the aim of fostering the cognitive and social-emotional functioning and physical health of preschool children and enhancing their emerging competencies. This article presents a structured critical appraisal of economic...

Many low- and middle-income countries continue to search for better ways of financing their health systems. Common to many of these systems are problems of inadequate resource mobilisation, as well as inefficient and inequitable use of existing resources. The poor and other vulnerable groups who...

Cost-effective provision of adequate healthcare to prisoners is a core problematic issue in contemporary correctional healthcare settings. An increasingly popular policy for reducing prison healthcare costs is prisoner co-payment systems for health services. Advocates of this policy assert that...

Background: We evaluated the impact of a community-based tobacco control project that was implemented in the city of Tucson, Arizona, USA, between 1996 and 2001. Aim: The project's goal was to reduce the prevalence of youth smoking through change in social norms at schools and in communities and...