Transaction Cost Theories and Health Policies

This book includes essays on Transaction Cost theories for Health policies; it shows that such an approach is still useful for liberal economies. It is part of a larger research agenda to develop policy aiding decision tools and address inefficiencies of medical markets. The Transaction Cost Economics framework is applied for a project on re-engineering of California primary care; then an emerging theoretical framework called the “3Ps” develops further a Transaction Cost Political theory with a business approach; it combines Politics, Patients and Products from companies for market access, with 3P from the demand side: Physicians, Pharmacists and Patients. These actors choose individual cost reduction strategies for patients, this explicit information complements the implicit cost cues used in the cost sensitivity simulators (Huttin-Endepusresearch, 2017). Then, the author uses this “3P” framework in two case studies: France and Germany. Results identified that physicians were key players in Germany versus pharmacists in France, with their choices of individual cost reduction strategies. The Transaction Cost approach remains useful for Random Utility Models in health insurance.