Press Release: Health Economics Initiative Launched

The Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics is launching a Health Economics Initiative to support and promote inquiry that will enhance fundamental knowledge of health care markets and the impact of policies and long-term forces shaping those markets.

The first component of this multidisciplinary initiative is a Program on Foundational Research in Health Care Markets and Policies. The program will encourage analysis of the economic forces that shape health care costs, coverage, provision, and outcomes: incentives, innovation, regulation, competition, labor markets, public financing of health care programs and fiscal constraints, and international differences in health care policies, markets, and technology.

By funding original research, nurturing innovative young scholars, and building a community of researchers in this field, the Becker Friedman Institute will stimulate basic research on health economics. The program is now accepting applications for fellowships and research support, available to doctoral students in economics and public policy as well as early-career scholars pursuing promising work in this field. The program will also offer opportunities for researchers to visit the Becker Friedman Institute to collaborate and refine their work. A conference on health care economics planned for September 30, 2016 will showcase emerging research in the field.

Tomas Philipson, the Daniel Levin Professor of Public Policy at the UChicago Harris School of Public Policy, directs the program, in collaboration with David Meltzer and Casey Mulligan. Meltzer is the Fannie L. Pritzker Professor in the Medical School, Department of Economics, and Harris School at UChicago; Mulligan is a professor in the Department of Economics.

Financial support for the initiative has been provided by the Charles Koch Foundation, the Kilts Family Foundation, the Thomas W. Smith Foundation, Pfizer Inc., and James H. Schloemer, MBA’83.