Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: health economics in international perspective -- The demand for health and health services -- Demand, elasticity and health -- Production, health and health care: efficient use of inputs -- Cost of delivering health services -- Basic market models -- Supplier-induced demand and agency -- Market failure and government -- The theoretical bases of economic evaluation -- Issues in the measurement of costs -- Measuring benefits in economic evaluation -- Practical steps in economic evaluation -- Economic evaluation as a framework for choice -- Contracting -- Market structures -- Hospital and health provider behaviour and motivation -- The economics of regulation -- Incentives and agency -- Health systems: a framework for analysis -- Health systems around the world: an introduction to variation and performance -- Reliance on the state: public health service systems -- Voluntary insurance based systems -- Social insurance systems -- Parallel systems -- The economics of health sector reform.