Resource Allocation by Regression in the National Health Service: A Critique of the Resource Allocation Working Party's Review

Trevor A. Sheldon and Roy Carr‐Hill

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, 1992, vol. 155, issue 3, 403-420

Abstract: This paper examines the recent review of the Resource Allocation Working Party formula for allocating resources to the regions in the National Health Service from which the current formula‐is derived. Increasingly public resources are allocated by means of formulae which are based on multiple‐regression techniques which attempt to model ‘need’. The paper highlights some of the statistical and methodological problems in developing such formulae using resource allocation in the National Health Service as a case study. The statistical approach of the review is subjected to a rigorous critique and ways of improving the method are suggested. The paper then explores the limitations inherent in this type of modelling methodology. It is argued that there are real problems in attempting to translate technical or scientific models into public policy. This is compounded by the fact that regression techniques are often used by policy makers to give the impression of neutrality while pursuing political ends. The fundamentally political nature of the choice of need indicator must be acknowledged.

Date: 1992
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2307/2982891

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jorssa:v:155:y:1992:i:3:p:403-420

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://ordering.onli ... 1111/(ISSN)1467-985X

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A is currently edited by A. Chevalier and L. Sharples

More articles in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A from Royal Statistical Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().