Determinants of Health: An Economic Perspective

On the concept of health capital and the demand for health -- The human capital model -- The correlation between health and schooling -- An exploration of the dynamic relationship between health and cognitive development in adolescence -- Parental education and child health : evidence from a natural experiment in Taiwan -- Women's education : harbinger of another spring? Evidence from a natural experiment in Turkey -- Variations in infant mortality rates among counties of the United States : the roles of public policies and programs -- Determinants of neonatal mortality rates in the U.S. : a reduced form model -- Birth outcome productions function in the U.S. -- Unobservables, pregnancy resolutions, and birthweight production functions in New York City -- The impact of national health insurance on birth outcomes : a natural experiment in Taiwan -- The effects of government regulation on teenage smoking -- Beer taxes, the legal drinking age, and youth motor vehicle fatalities -- Effects of alcoholic beverage prices and legal drinking ages on youth alcohol use -- Rational addiction and the effect of price on consumption -- An empirical analysis of cigarette addiction -- An empirical analysis of alcohol addiction : results from the monitoring the future panels -- The demand for cocaine by young adults : a rational addiction approach -- An economic analysis of adult obesity : results from the behavioral risk factor surveillance system -- Fast-food restaurant advertising on television and its influence on childhood obesity -- Food prices and body fatness among youths

Part 1. The demand for health : theoretical underpinnings and empirical results. On the concept of health capital and the demand for health -- The human capital model -- Part 2. The relationship between health and schooling. The correlation between health and schooling -- An exploration of the dynamic relationship between health and cognitive development in adolescence -- Parental education and child health : evidence from a natural experiment in Taiwan -- Women's education : harbinger of another spring? Evidence from a natural experiment in Turkey -- Part 3. Determinants of infant health with special emphasis on public policies and programs. Variations in infant mortality rates among counties of the United States : the roles of public policies and programs -- Determinants of neonatal mortality rates in the United States : a reduced form model -- Birth outcome production functions in the United States -- Unobservables, pregnancy resolutions, and birth weight production functions in New York City -- The impact of national health insurance on birth outcomes : a natural experiment in Taiwan -- Part 4. The economics of unhealthy behaviors. The effects of government regulation on teenage smoking -- Beer taxes, the legal drinking age, and youth motor vehicle fatalities -- Effects of alcoholic beverage prices and legal drinking ages on youth alcohol use -- Rational addiction and the effect of price on consumption -- An empirical analysis of cigarette addiction -- An empirical analysis of alcohol addiction : results from the monitoring the future panels -- The demand for cocaine by young adults : a rational addiction approach -- An economic analysis of adult obesity : results from the behavioral risk factor surveillance system -- Fast-food restaurant advertising on television and its influence on childhood obesity -- Food prices and body fatness among youths.

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.