Special Issue on Health Economics: An Introduction

Health economics is a rapidly growing sub-discipline which provides scientific evidence for informed policy choices and market decisions concerned with health and health care. Since Arrow?s (1963) publication, Uncertainty and the welfare economics of medical care - which is considered a symbolic foundation of health economics - the sub-discipline has evolved into a multifaceted area of research with several fields of study and application. Its contribution to our understanding of health-related behaviours, mechanisms and policy choices is beyond doubt. Yet, with the challenges we are facing today and will in the near future, it seems that health economists will have even more to do to improve the well-being of nations.