Handbook on the Political Economy of Health Systems

Edited by Joan Costa-Font, Professor of Health Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, Alberto Batinti, Assistant Professor of Economic Policy, La Sapienza University of Rome and Gilberto Turati, Professor of Public Finance, Department of Economics and Finance, School of Economics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy

• Contents:PART I INTRODUCTION TO THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OFHEALTH SYSTEMS1 An introduction to the Handbook on the Political Economy of Health Systems 2Alberto Batinti, Joan Costa-Font and Gilberto TuratiPART II CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS2 Health and healthcare as a human right 12Hiroaki Matsuura3 Do democratic regimes exhibit ‘better’ health outcomes? 27Alberto Batinti and Joan Costa-Font4 Soviet communism and later-life health and health care 42Joan Costa-Font and Anna Nicińska5 Federalism and tax-financed healthcare: economic advantages,dilemmas, and solutions 57Roger D. Congleton6 The coordination in European Union healthcare after Covid-19 70Marco Buso, Massimo Bordignon, Rosella Levaggi and Gilberto Turati7 Efficiency and equity effects of healthcare decentralization: evidencefrom Italy 85Caterina Ferrario, Rosella Levaggi and Massimiliano Piacenza8 Political economy of health care insurance expansion in Mexico 112David G. Lugo-Palacios and Alejandro Sanders Villa9 Weird health care for WEIRD societies? 130Hartmut KliemtPART III POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, POLITICAL MARKETS ANDHEALTH CARE DECISIONS10 Medical composition of cabinets and the health care system 147Joan Costa-Font, Nicolas Marchi and Debra Winberg11 Women politicians and public health 157Sonia Bhalotra and Mariana Lopes da Fonseca12 Community and civic participation effects on health and well-being 177Luke Munford and Daniel Gray13 Ideology and health spending 200Bernd Theilen14 Lobbying, health, and healthcare 213Nathaniel Z. Counts and Vinu Ilakkuvan15 Healthcare corruption 236Martin McKee, Eleanor Hutchinson and Dina Balabanova16 Provider power and healthcare systems 247Mason Barnard, Irini Papanicolas and Peter Smith17 Health effects of trade policy and corporate interest groups 270Pepita Barlow18 Institutional quality and health outcomes 292Giacomo De Luca, Domenico Lisi, Marco Martorana and Luigi SicilianiPART IV THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF HEALTH CAREFINANCING AND POLICY REFORMS19 Towards a general political economy of private supplementary health insurance 319Claudio Lucarelli and Mark Pauly20 Political economy of public financing of health in low- andmiddle-income countries 339Sumit Mazumdar and Rodrigo Moreno-Serra21 Political economy of health system reform: evidence from Spain 370Guillem López-Casasnovas22 The pharmaceutical patent system and access to medicines 380Valbona MuzakaPART V POLITICAL ECONOMY OF HEALTH CARE DURING COVID-1923 Covid-19 and the interest group approach to government 397Peter T. Leeson and Henry A. Thompson24 Political preferences and nudging for healthcare: evidence from Covidcertificates 412Mario Cesare Nurchis, Luca Salmasi and Gilberto Turati25 Multilevel governance in the first wave of Covid-19 430Marta Angelici, Paolo Berta, Joan Costa-Font and Gilberto TuratiPART VI LESSONS FROM THE HANDBOOK26 The political economy of health systems: research space, goals and lessons 447Alberto Batinti, Joan Costa-Font and Gilberto TuratiIndex 454

‘Health systems and reforms in the health sector play a fundamental role in policy-making and in the political process, as emphasized during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. This book collects important contributions to develop an innovative view of the political economy of health systems, where political and economic factors interact in determining policy decisions in the health care domain. The book provides an excellent unified, broad, and thorough vision of one of the most promising and interdisciplinary areas of the current and future political economy debate.’