A New Axiomatic Approach to the Evaluation of Population Health

21 Pages Posted: 13 Oct 2011

See all articles by Jens Leth Hougaard

Jens Leth Hougaard

University of Copenhagen - Department of Economics

Juan D. Moreno Ternero

Universidad Pablo de Olavide

Lars Peter Østerdal

University of Southern Denmark, Department of Business and Economics

Date Written: October 11, 2011

Abstract

We explore in this paper the implications of ethical and operational 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 rationale for popular theories in health economics (such as the unweighted aggregation of QALYs or HYEs, and generalizations of the two, aimed to capture concerns for distributive justice) without resorting to controversial assumptions over individual preferences.

Keywords: population health, QALYs, HYEs, axioms

JEL Classification: D63, I10

Suggested Citation

Hougaard, Jens Leth and Moreno-Ternero, Juan D. and Østerdal, Lars Peter, A New Axiomatic Approach to the Evaluation of Population Health (October 11, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1942833 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1942833

Jens Leth Hougaard

University of Copenhagen - Department of Economics ( email )

Øster Farimagsgade 5
Bygning 26
1353 Copenhagen K.
Denmark

Juan D. Moreno-Ternero

Universidad Pablo de Olavide ( email )

Ctra. Utrera, Km.1
Sevilla, Seville 41010
Spain

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/jmorenoternero/

Lars Peter Østerdal (Contact Author)

University of Southern Denmark, Department of Business and Economics ( email )

Campusvej 55
DK-5230 Odense, 5000
Denmark

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