For optimal solutions in health care, decision makers inevitably must evaluate trade-offs, which call for multiattribute valuation methods. Researchers have proposed using best-worst scaling (BWS) methods which seek to extract information from respondents by asking them to identify the best and...

Best-worst scaling (BWS), also known as maximum-difference scaling, is a multiattribute approach to measuring preferences. BWS aims at the analysis of preferences regarding a set of attributes, their levels or alternatives. It is a stated-preference method based on the assumption that...

Recent healthcare reforms have sought to increase efficiency by introducing managed care (MC) as an alternative to conventional care. This article proposes an institutional change designed to let German consumers choose between the two settings through directing payments from the Federal Health...

This paper applies the five standard economic performance criteria to gauge the contribu-tion of Managed Care (MC) to the performance of three healthcare systems, viz. Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The criteria are (1) matching of consumer preferences, (2) technical efficiency, (3)...

How to deal with the risks associated with nuclear energy is a major policy issue. This paper investigates the effect of an individual's distance from nuclear power plants on its willingness to pay for increased insurance coverage against nuclear accidents (MWPC) as well as on willingness to pay...

Zusammenfassung Ein erklärtes Ziel der Sozialpolitik ist es, aus temporärer keine permanente Armut werden zu lassen. Diesem Ziel steht häufig die Verschuldung des Haushalts entgegen, die zur Zeit im Zuge der Lohnpfändung dazu führt, daß das Einkommen, welches das betreibungsrechtliche...

Summary Health care may be similar to the work Sisyphus, a Greek hero who was condemned by the Gods to push a big rock up a hill only to see it slip out of his hands before making it to the top. To see why there my be a Sisyphus syndrome in health, consider an initial decision to devote more...