We use a calibrated stochastic life-cycle model of endogenous health spending, asset accumulation and retirement to investigate the causes behind the increase in health spending and life expectancy over the period 1965-2005. We estimate that technological change along with the increase in the...

This paper discusses the relationship between medical innovations and ageing from a health economics perspective and surveys empirical evidence on medical R&D incentives, R&D costs of pharmaceuticals, and the cost-effectiveness of health innovations. Particular focus is on the endogeneity of...

The debate over how to tame private medical spending tends to pit advocates of government-provided insurance — a single-payer scheme — against those who would prefer to harness market forces to hold down costs. When it is mentioned at all, the possibility of regulating the medical industry...