Medical progress, demand for health care, and economic performance

Arbeitspapier

We study medical progress within an economy of overlapping generations subject to endogenous mortality. Individuals demand health care with a view to lowering mortality over their life-cycle. We characterise the individual optimum and the general equilibrium of the economy and study the impact of improvements in the effectiveness of health care. We find that general equilibrium effects dampen strongly the increase in health care usage following medical innovation. Moreover, an increase in savings offsets the negative impact on GDP per capita of a decline in the support ratio.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ECON WPS ; No. 08/2017

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡ ; Analysis of Health Care Markets ; Health Behavior ; Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts ; Value of Life; Forgone Income ; Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives ; One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
• Subject: life-cycle model ; longevity ; health care ; medical innovation ; overlapping generations ; value of life

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Frankovic, Ivan ; Kuhn, Michael ; Wrzaczek, Stefan
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Statistics and Mathematical Methods in Economics, Research Group Economics
• (where): Vienna
• (when): 2017

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/173278
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET