Behavioral Economics Essay

1265 Words3 Pages

Shash Dholakia
ECO 341
3/23/14
Final Paper
In this paper I aim to tie the concepts of behavioral economics to issues in health economics. The goal is to use economics and psychology to explain how patients or physicians stray from the assumptions of the standard economic theory. In it through behavioral economic concepts that help researchers analyze and forecast patient or physician behavior. Behavioral economics has neumerous applications in the medical care field and these ideas can be used to create better health outcomes and stronger policies. I will be observing the economic issue of asymmetric information in certain spaces in the medical care field. According to the standard economic theory decision makers are fully informed have rational preferences with the aim to maximize utility. Behavioral economics literature examines patient and physician decision making through a variety of lenses such as the concepts of radical uncertainty and visceral factors. Through research and observation it is only “rational” to apply concepts of behavioral economics. In this sector uncertainty hovers above every decision where patients have limited information that influence decisions in the environment of fear make choices in the context of fear and trust in the physician. Every situation the medical field is unique to its own and this creates a great deal of uncertainties. These uncertainties can infiltrate decisions about diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Since this is such a broad subject I will narrow it down to a few topics to explain the ideas. I will try to show patient and physician decision making capacity in risk situations and use the example of end of life care to make the argument tangible.
I will begin by giving an overview...

... middle of paper ...

...d treatment it is tough to understand under such stress. That statistic shows the amount of uncertainty there is in such a complex situation. In the case of lung cancer a decision maker cannot be sure if medications will improve life or have side effects. The only information he has is statistical evidence of previous cases. This is an inefficient way to make decisions because each case in medicine is unique to its own. Furthermore, with end of life lung cancer one cannot be sure if radiation or surgery will improve life or make it worse. Making decisions under radical uncertainty with risk information is one to be analyzed. Every decision maker is different and to gain an understanding of how people make decision under uncertainty is important to know because risks to do not exist in a vacuum. Risk choices are susceptible to human response with respect to fear.

More about Behavioral Economics Essay

Open Document