A new axiomatic approach to the evaluation of population health

Hougaard, Jens Leth;Moreno-Ternero, Juan de Dios;Osterdal, Lars Peter
(2013) Journal of Health Economics — Vol. 32, n° 3, p. 515-523 (2013)

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Authors
  • Hougaard, Jens LethUniversity of Copenhagen
    Author
  • Moreno-Ternero, Juan de DiosUniversidad Pablo de Olavide
    Author
  • Osterdal, Lars PeterUniversity of Southern Denmark
    Author
Abstract
In this paper we explore the implications of normative principles for the evaluation of population health. We formalize those principles as axioms for social preferences over distributions of health for a given population. We single out several focal population health evaluation functions, which represent social preferences, as a result of combinations of those axioms. Our results provide new rationale for popular theories in health economics, such as the unweighted aggregation of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) or healthy years equivalents (HYEs) and generalizations of the two, aimed to capture concerns for distributive justice, without resorting to controversial assumptions on individual preferences.
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Hougaard, J. L., Moreno-Ternero, J. d. D., & Osterdal, L. P. (2013). A new axiomatic approach to the evaluation of population health. Journal of Health Economics, 32(3), 515-523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2013.01.006 (Original work published 2013)