Behaviour, Health and Health Systems

Understanding the behaviour of the individuals and organisations which play the main roles in improving population health is key to ensuring the best use of the resources devoted to health care. Economic analysis of the effects of the incentives and constraints that confront these individuals and organisations is central to understanding the resulting behaviours. The Behaviour, Health and Health Systems (BHHS) Programme undertakes a programme of applied health economic research that uses economic theory and the econometric analysis of primary and secondary data sets to study the behaviours of health professionals and organisations in the NHS and the health behaviours of the population at large. The research provides evidence to policy makers about how behaviour affects the efficiency of health production and on the most efficient ways to influence behaviour.

The research is organised into three themes: Workforce; Organisations and Performance; and Health Behaviours and Inequalities.