A new axiomatic approach to the evaluation of population health

Jens Hougaard (), Juan Moreno-Ternero and Lars Peter Østerdal

No 12.08, Working Papers from Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics

Abstract: In this paper we explore the implications of normative principles for the evaluation of population health. We formalize those principles as axioms for social preferences over distributions of health for a given population. We single out several focal population health evaluation functions, which represent social preferences, as a result of combinations of those axioms. Our results provide new rationale for popular theories in health economics, such as the unweighted aggregation of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) or healthy years equivalents (HYEs) and generalizations of the two, aimed to capture concerns for distributive justice, without resorting to controversial assumptions on individual preferences.

Keywords: population health; social preferences; QALYs; HYEs; axioms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 I10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 pages
Date: 2012-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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Downloads: (external link)
http://www.upo.es/serv/bib/wps/econ1208.pdf First version, 2012 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: A new axiomatic approach to the evaluation of population health (2013)
Working Paper: A new axiomatic approach to the evaluation of population health (2013)
Working Paper: A new axiomatic approach to the evaluation of population health (2012)
Working Paper: A New Axiomatic Approach to the Evaluation of Population Health (2012)
Working Paper: A new axiomatic approach to the evalution of population health (2012)
Working Paper: A new axiomatic approach to the evaluation of population health (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pab:wpaper:12.08

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