Research Group in Health Economics and Health Financing

The Research Group in Health Economics and Health Financing aims at being at the forefront of health economics and health financing research and teaching on a global level. Led by Manuela De Allegri, the Group focuses primarily on research themes pertinent to the achievement of universal health coverage worldwide. The research themes are applied to a wide variety of public health areas, ranging from disease control to maternal care to HIV/AIDS research.

Social health insurance, private insurance, and micro health insurance: The Group works with experimental and semi-experimental research designs to accompany the development and to produce evidence on the impact of insurance mechanisms in low and middle-income countries.

Provider payment and health services reimbursement: The Group has competencies in performance-based financing and relevant assessments of quality of care, primarily in low and middle income countries.

User fee abolition: The Group works on issues relevant to the abolition of user fees in West African countries, conducting both applied research on the impact of single interventions (in collaboration with the Disease Control Group at the IPH) and broader policy analysis to unravel factors shaping the relevant policy shifts.

Economic evaluation and health technology assessment: The Group is proficient in the theory and practice of analytical approaches to cost analysis, economic evaluation, and health technology assessment both of specific treatments and of complex public health interventions. Specific competencies include economic evaluation of malaria, dengue, and cutaneous leishmaniasis interventions.

Equity analysis: The Group has extensive expertise in the assessment of the equity impact of diverse public health policies, primarily in relation to access to care and financial protection from the cost of illness.

Mixed methods research: The Group combines expertise in econometric analysis with expertise in qualitative research methods to promote the application of mixed research methods in health economics and financing. The Group holds relevant workshops and seminars in several countries around the world.