Main description:

This collection of Michael Grossman's most important papers adds essential background and depth to his work on economic-based determinants of public health. Grossman organizes his essays into four categories and includes an introduction to each section that addresses the issues covered and the larger stakes of his work. An afterword discusses the effect of Grossman's approach to subsequent research on health economics and the work others have done to advance and extend his innovative perspective. Determinants of Health begins with a section on the theoretical underpinnings and empirical results of Grossman's groundbreaking health economics model, first introduced in the 1970s. It follows with sections on the relationship between health and schooling; determinants of infant health, with a special emphasis on public policies and programs; and the economics of unhealthy behaviors. These essays explain how the economic choices people make influence health and health behaviors.
Grossman treats health as a form of human capital, and he shows that public policies and programs that determine the price and availability of key inputs have critical effects on outcomes ranging from birthweight and infant mortality to cigarette smoking, alcohol abuse, illegal drug use, and obesity. Grossman's approach has led to a major stream of literature in the field with contributions by the world's leading health economists, including Joseph Newhouse, Jonathan Gruber, Amy Finkelstein, Michael Greenstone, and David Cutler. His clarity on the economic decisions that lead people to make good or poor health choices is immensely valuable to the debate over how we spend on and legislate health.

Contents:

Foreword, by John Mullahy
Introduction and Acknowledgments
Part 1. The Demand for Health: Theoretical Underpinnings and Empirical Results
Introduction to Part 1
1. On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health, by Michael Grossman
2. The Human Capital Model, by Michael Grossman
Afterword to Part 1
Part 2. The Relationship between Health and Schooling
Introduction to Part 2
3. The Correlation between Health and Schooling, by Michael Grossman
4. An Exploration of the Dynamic Relationship between Health and Cognitive Development in Adolescence, by Robert A. Shakotko, Linda N. Edwards, and Michael Grossman
5. Parental Education and Child Health: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Taiwan, by Shin-Yi Chou, Jin-Tan Liu, Michael Grossman, and Ted Joyce
6. Women's Education: Harbinger of Another Spring? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Turkey, by Mehmet Alper Dincer, Neeraj Kaushal, and Michael Grossman
Afterword to Part 2
Part 3. Determinants of Infant Health with Special Emphasis on Public Policies and Programs
Introduction to Part 3
7. Variations in Infant Mortality Rates among Counties of the United States: The Roles of Public Policies and Programs, by Michael Grossman and Steven Jacobowitz
8. Determinants of Neonatal Mortality Rates in the United States: A Reduced Form Model, by Hope Corman and Michael Grossman
9. Birth Outcome Production Functions in the United States, by Hope Corman, Theodore J. Joyce, and Michael Grossman
10. Unobservables, Pregnancy Resolutions, and Birth Weight Production Functions in New York City, by Michael Grossman and Theodore J. Joyce
11. The Impact of National Health Insurance on Birth Outcomes: A Natural Experiment in Taiwan, Shin-Yi Chou, Michael Grossman, and Jin-Tan Liu
Afterword to Part 3
Part 4. The Economics of Unhealthy Behaviors
Introduction to Part 4
12. The Effects of Government Regulation on Teenage Smoking, by Eugene M. Lewit, Douglas Coate, and Michael Grossman
13. Beer Taxes, the Legal Drinking Age, and Youth Motor Vehicle Fatalities, by Henry Saffer and Michael Grossman
14. Effects of Alcoholic Beverage Prices and Legal Drinking Ages on Youth Alcohol Use, by Douglas Coate and Michael Grossman
15. Rational Addiction and the Effect of Price on Consumption, by Gary S. Becker, Michael Grossman, and Kevin M. Murphy
16. An Empirical Analysis of Cigarette Addiction, by Gary S. Becker, Michael Grossman, and Kevin M. Murphy
17. An Empirical Analysis of Alcohol Addiction: Results from the Monitoring the Future Panels, by Michael Grossman, Frank J. Chaloupka, and Ismail Sirtalan
18. The Demand for Cocaine by Young Adults: A Rational Addiction Approach, by Michael Grossman and Frank J. Chaloupka
19. An Economic Analysis of Adult Obesity: Results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, by Shin-Yi Chou, Michael Grossman, and Henry Saffer
20. Fast-Food Restaurant Advertising on Television and Its Influence on Childhood Obesity, by Shin-Yi Chou, Inas Rashad, and Michael Grossman
21. Food Prices and Body Fatness among Youths, by Michael Grossman, Erdal Tekin, and Roy Wada
Afterword to Part 4
Reflections
Index