Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Show Summary Details
Page of

Foundations in welfare economics and utility theory: what should be valued? 

Foundations in welfare economics and utility theory: what should be valued?
Chapter:
Foundations in welfare economics and utility theory: what should be valued?
Author(s):

John Brazier

, Julie Ratcliffe

, Joshua A. Salomon

, and Aki Tsuchiya

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780198725923.003.0003
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). © Oxford University Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Medicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 05 July 2022

This chapter examines what is to be valued in economic evaluation of health care interventions. It starts by reviewing economic theory on resource allocation through the market mechanism and applying this to the health care sector. It then presents the alternative of resource allocation by government intervention and the implications this has for the use of economic evaluation and the measure of benefit. This is followed by a consideration of the welfarist foundation for a measure of health such as the QALY, and finally some non-welfarist arguments for this. The aim of this chapter is to examine what is important for the purpose of economic evaluation and, specifically, the place of the QALY measure.

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.