Designing Economic Reforms |
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In 2006 Elizabeth Savage became a Founding Board member of the Economic Design Network. The Economic Design Network is a research network funded by the Australian Research Council to support research and scholarship in economic theory and experimental economics, and in their application to the design of economic policy. By encouraging interdisciplinary research and policy innovation, using state of the art techniques in economic theory and experimental economics, it will create practical tools that can be used to solve complex social and economic problems. More information is available at the EDN website http://pluto.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/ednetwork/index.cfm Elizabeth established the EDN Health Economics Sub-Group which aims to bring together theorists, experimental economists and policy makers to discuss proposed health care reform and to develop research collaborations with the aim of designing better health policy. Current and proposed reforms in the health sector focus on moving from less formal arrangements and relationships between funders, purchasers and providers to more formal and codified contracts. Proposals for fundamental reform of the health system include increased competition among insurers (managed competition), funds pooling, and more explicit arrangements between purchasers and providers. The EDN Health Economics Sub-Group will investigate the impact of a range of policy changes, and analyse how they impact on health system performance and quality of care. Given the limitations of survey and administrative data in addressing the performance of potential alternative contract designs, experimental evidence is likely to be critical in developing this field of inquiry. For more information on the EDN Health Economics Sub-Group contact |
