This paper considers methods to measure output and productivity in the delivery of health services, with an application to the NHS hospital sector. It first develops a theoretical framework for measuring quality adjusted outputs and then considers how this might be implemented given available...

We model the impact of the transfer price rule (a constraint that re- quires the downstream division of a vertically-integrated ?rm to earn at least a normal rate of return on investment in the counterfactual case that it pays the same price as a nonintegrated ?rm for the essential input), re-...

Following the Gulf War, international discussions took place about multilateral restraints on “destabilising arms transfers”. Given that the UK is one of the leading exporters of arms, any reduction in such exports would affect the UK economy. The UK government spends considerable sums...

Long waiting times for non-emergency (elective) procedures are a central feature of the UK's National Health Service, with about 1 million people waiting for surgery at any one time. This paper develops empirical models of the demand for and supply of elective surgery which simultaneously...

Privatization programs have been introduced in a number of countries in the last decade with a view to improving the economic performance of state-owned industries. Yet empirical studies of public versus private ownership have produced mixed results. This study is concerned with assessing the...

The Centre for Health Economics and National Institute of Economic and Social Research have recently completed a project funded by the Department of Health to improve measurement of the productivity of the NHS. The researchers have suggested better ways of measuring both outputs and inputs to...

Throughout the first 25 years of the NHS there were, at any point in time, about half a million people waiting for hospital treatment in England. Over the next two decades this figure doubled, and waiting times have become a subject of great public concern. Partly in response to this concern,...