Cavalcade of Risk #31

I am honored to host the 31st edition of the world-renowned Cavalcade of Risk. In a departure from some prior carnivals, I have tried to make this a more concise edition, highlighting the truly best articles of the past two weeks. Using this method, I intended to eliminate minimize the risk that you will choose…

Prospect Theory

Yesterday, I talked about expected utility theory (EUT). Today I will write about one on the major departures from EUT: Prospect Theory. This theory was developed by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Econometrica 1979). The four key characteristics of prospect theory are: Individuals use decision weights, π(p), rather than probabilities, p, when making…

Four Axioms needed for Expected Utility Theory

How do economists understand individuals preferences when there is risk? Without risk, economists generally believe that individuals have a utility function which can convert ordinal preferences into a real-valued function. This real valued function is the utility function. When risk enters into the picture, the expected utility theory (EUT) is used. This theory was developed…

ESD: Han Bleichrodt

This post will review Han Bleichrodt‘s lecture regarding the micro foundations of using QALY based utility functions. QALYs Many health economists use a QALY model to describe a person’s preference over health states. For instance let (q1,…qτ) be an individuals health profile from year 1 to year τ. The QALY model assumes that utility is…

ESD: Willard Manning

Today I will review the insightful lecture of Willard Manning at European Science Days. Manning is most famous for his work with the RAND Health Insurance Experiment. Problems with Healthcare Data There are 4 major econometric problems one must consider when trying to analyze health care cost and utilization data: There is a large mass…

Primary Care vs. Specialists

The Wall Street Journal (“Doctor Shortage…“) reports that the percentage of medical residents choosing to practice in the primary care arena is falling.  This is likely due to the fact that specialists make significantly more money the primary care doctors.  Arnold Kling of EconLog has an interesting point as primary care physicians shortages and primary…

More growth in Convenience Clinics

Earlier this month, VentureBeat reported that QuickHealth, a Burlingame, Calf. company that operates walk-in medical clinics, said it has raised an $8.5 million in a second round of financing.  The company’s report states the following: Take Care Health Systems LLC, an operator of retail clinics predominantly in the Midwest, completed its sale to Walgreen Co.…

ESD: Don Kenkel

Below is a summary of Don Kenkel‘s lecture regarding the Economics of Substance Abuse Use. General The World Health Organization and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) have statistics on the number of drug users around the world. They claim that in 2002 there were 2 billion alcohol users, 1.3 billion smokers, and…