Functional form and the non-marginal effects of NHS expenditure
Theme 5: Empirical work on the marginal productivity of public expenditure in health and care
The focus of most of the work on the marginal productivity of NHS expenditure has been to estimate the marginal effects of expenditure on average across the NHS. This provides the basis of calculating a cost-per-QALY of NHS expenditure at the margin, which provides a measure of opportunity cost relevant to many national policy decisions. However, there is also a need to go beyond estimating the ‘average’ marginal effect, (i) when the scale of the budget impact of a policy is significant and not marginal; and (ii) when considering reallocations of resources between local geographies, e.g., transitioning areas from actual allocations towards target allocations based on measures of health care need.
Aims
The aim of this project is to better understand the non-marginal effects of changes in different types of NHS of expenditure and to provide estimates that are more relevant to local geographies. These estimates can better inform proposed reallocations of resources between local areas and types of NHS expenditure. This project will also fill an important empirical gap when estimating the marginal value of public expenditure on health and social care.
Project Team
James Lomas, Francesco Longo, Andrea Salas Ortiz, Karl Claxton
Contact
James Lomas james.lomas@york.ac.uk