The ability to compare incremental changes in Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) generated by different condition-specific preference-based measures (CSPBMs), or indeed between generic measures, is often criticised even where the valuation methods and source of values are the same. A key...

One way in which economists might determine how best to balance the competing objectives of efficiency and equality is to specify a Social Welfare Function (SWF). This article looks at how the stated preferences of a sample of the general public can be used to estimate the shape of the SWF in...

Background: An important methodological issue in economic evaluations of healthcare is how to include productivity costs (the costs related to reduced productivity due to illness, disability and premature death). Traditionally, they were included in the numerator of a cost-effectiveness...

Preference elicitation methods require respondents to predict the impact a change in health might have on their future selves. The focus on the change in health is at the possible expense of other experiences of life once in that health state. We analyse personal preferences to a pairwise choice...

In this study we explored a novel application of the discrete choice experiment (DCE) that resembles the time trade off (TTO) task to estimate values on the health utility scale for the EQ-5D. The DCE was tested in a survey alongside the TTO in a sample of English-speaking Canadians recruited by...

This paper considers two societal concerns in addition to health maximisation: first, concerns for the societal value of lifetime health for an individual; and second, concerns for the value of lifetime health across individuals. Health-related social welfare functions (HRSWFs) have addressed...