Graduate Curriculum Committee Course Proposal Form for Courses Numbered 6000 and Higher
Note: Before completing this form, please carefully read the accompanying instructions.
Submission guidelines are posted to the GCC Web site: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/gcc/index.cfm
ECON 8670 09/14/2011
1.
Course prefix and number: 2. Date:
3.
Requested action:
X New Course
Revision of Active Course
Revision & Unbanking of a Banked Course
Renumbering of an Existing Course from
from # to #
Required X Elective
4.
Method(s) of delivery (check all boxes that apply for both current/proposed and expected future delivery methods within the next three years):
Current or
Proposed Delivery
Method(s):
Expected
Future Delivery
Method(s):
X On-campus (face to face) X
Distance Course (face to face off campus)
Online (delivery of 50% or more of the instruction is offered online)
5.
Justification (must cite accreditation and/or assessment by the graduate faculty) for new course or course revision or course renumbering:
The graduate faculty of the Department of Economics identified a need in government, the private sector, and in academia for PhD graduates with advanced analytic and technical skills necessary for analysis, mitigation, management and regulation of risk—in environmental, financial and public health settings. This requires an understanding of the underlying individual decision maker and firm behavior and their interaction within market and nonmarket settings. Theoretical modeling and empirical analysis complete the picture and allow for the identification of effective public policy and regulation. This doctoral program is unique within the state of North Carolina because it emphasizes risk modeling and analysis over a broad scope of applications that range from financial markets to natural hazards. Students with training from this program will be well equipped to qualify for high level positions within Federal and State Agencies that deal
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with natural hazards and regulation of risk, as well as businesses for management and mitigation of risk.
The assessment process of the Economics Graduate Faculty has determined that a course that develops and examines healthcare and health decision making in an economic framework would enhance the proposed doctoral program and support integration across the university.
6.
Course description exactly as it should appear in the next catalog:
8670. Public Health Economics II (3) P: ECON 8660. Empirical analysis of public health policy issues pertaining to delivery and utilization of health care and their effects on population health and well-being.
7.
If this is a course revision, briefly describe the requested change:
NA
8.
Course credit:
Lecture Hours
Lab
3 Weekly OR Per Term Credit Hours
Weekly OR Per Term Credit Hours
3 s.h. s.h.
Studio
Practicum
Internship
Total Credit Hours
Weekly OR Per Term Credit Hours
Weekly OR Per Term Credit Hours
Weekly OR Per Term Credit Hours
Other (e.g., independent study) Please explain.
s.h. s.h. s.h. s.h.
3 s.h.
9.
Anticipated annual student enrollment:
10.
Changes in degree hours of your programs:
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Degree(s)/Program(s)
PhD/Economics
Changes in Degree Hours
NA
11.
Affected degrees or academic programs, other than your programs:
Degree(s)/Program(s) Changes in Degree Hours
NA
12.
Overlapping or duplication with affected units or programs:
Not applicable
X
Documentation of notification to the affected academic degree programs is attached.
13.
Council for Teacher Education (CTE) approval (for courses affecting teacher education): x Not applicable
Applicable and CTE has given their approval.
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14.
University Service-Learning Committee (USLC) approval: x Not applicable
Applicable and USLC has given their approval.
15.
Statements of support: a. Staff
Current staff is adequate
Additional staff is needed (describe needs in the box below):
X
A health economics specialist is needed b. Facilities x Current facilities are adequate
Additional facilities are needed (describe needs in the box below): c
.
Library x Initial library resources are adequate
Initial resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief explanation and an estimate for the cost of acquisition of required initial resources): d. Unit computer resources x Unit computer resources are adequate
Additional unit computer resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief explanation and an estimate for the cost of acquisition): e. ITCS resources x ITCS resources are not needed
The following ITCS resources are needed (put a check beside each need):
Mainframe computer system
Statistical services
Network connections
Computer lab for students
Software
Approval from the Director of ITCS attached
16.
Course information (see: Graduate Curriculum and Program Development Manual for instructions): a. Textbook(s) and/or readings: author(s), name, publication date, publisher, and city/state/country. Include ISBN (when applicable).
Text:
Folland, S., Goodman, A. C., & Stano, M. (2007). The Economics of Health and
Health Care (5 th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall ISBN 0-13—
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237978-3.
Selected Readings (order matches topical outline):
Carande-Kulis, V. G., Getzen, T.E., & Thacker, S.B. (2007) Public Goods and
Externalities: A Research Agenda for Public Health Economics.
Journal of Public
Health Management & Practice (pp. 227-232).
Smith, C., Cowan, C., Heffler, S., Catlin, A. & National Health Accounts Team, (2006)
National Health Spending in 2004, Health Affairs (pp.
186-96).
Monaco, R.M. & Phelps, J.H. (1995) Health Care Prices, The Federal Budget and
Economic Growth. Health Affairs (pp. 248-259).
Newhouse, J. P.(1993) An Iconoclastic View of Health Care Cost Containment,
Health Affairs , (pp. 152-171).
Scott, R. D., Meltzer, M.I., Erickson, L.J., DeWals, P., & Rosenstein, N.E., (2002)
Vaccinating first-year college students living in dormitories for Meningococcal disease an economic analysis, American Journal of Preventive Medicine , (pp. 98-105).
Huntington, J., & Connell, F.A., (1994) For Every Dollar Spent -- The Cost-Savings
Argument for Prenatal Care, New England Journal of Medicine , (pp. 1303-1307).
Russell, L. et al.,(1996)The Role of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Health And
Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association , (pp. 1172-1177).
Tengs, T., Adams, M., Pliskin, J., Safran, D., Siegel, J., Weinstein, M., & Graham, J.
(1995) Five Hundred Life-Saving Interventions and Their Cost-Effectiveness, Risk
Analysis (pp. 369-390).
Santerre, R & Neun, S. (2009) Health Economics: Theories, Insights and Industry
Studies (5 th
ed.) Mason,OH: Thomson South-Western Publishing. ISBN: 978-
0324789072.
Harrell, C., Harrison, P., & Kassler, W. (2000) Sex Under the Influence: The Effect of
Alcohol Policy on Sexually-Transmitted Disease Rates in the United States, Journal of
Law and Economics, (pp. 215-238).
Evans, W., Farrelly, M., & Montgomery, E. (1999) Do Workplace Smoking Bans
Reduce Smoking ?American Economic Review (pp. 728-747).
Donohue, J. J., & Levitt S.D., (2001) The impact of legalized abortion on crime”
Quarterly Journal of Economics (pp. 379-420).
Newhouse, J. P. (1970) Toward a Theory of Non-profit Institutions: An Economic
Model of a Hospital, American Economic Review (pp. 64-74).
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Blendon, R. et al. (1997) What Do Americans Know About Entitlements? Health
Affairs (pp. 111-116).
Kaiser Commission on the Future of Medicaid.( 2005) The Medicaid Program at a
Glance. Baltimore, MD: Kaiser Commission. January. Available on the world wide web at: http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/The-Medicaid-Program-at-a-Glance-Fact-
Sheet.pdf
Ball, R., (1995) What Medicare Architects Had in Mind, Health Affairs , (pp. 62-72).
Manning, W. G., Newhouse, J.P., Duan, N., Keeler, E.B., Leibowitz, A. & Marquis,
M.S. (1987) Health Insurance and the Demand for Medical Care: Evidence from a
Randomized Experiment. The American Economic Review , (pp. 251-277).
Altman, D., Cutler, D., & Zeckhauser, R. (1998) Adverse Selection and Adverse
Retention, American Economic Review , (pp.122-126).
Summers, L. (1989) Some Simple Economics of Mandated Benefits, American
Economic Review , (pp. 177-183).
Jin G. & Leslie, P. (2001) The effect of information on product quality: Evidence from
Restaurant Hygiene Grade Cards,”
Quarterly Journal of Economics, (pp. 409-461).
Gladwell, M. (2005) The Moral-Hazard Myth, The New Yorker .
Mullahy, J. (1999) It'll Only Hurt a Second? Microeconomic Determinants of Who
Gets Flu Shots, Health Economics (pp. 9 -24).
Dee, T.S, (2005) Forsaking All Others? The Effects of Same-Sex Partnership Laws on
Risky Sex,” Earlier version available at National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc,
NBER Working Paper: 11327.
Oster, E. (2005) Sexually Transmitted Infections, Sexual Behavior, and the HIV/AIDS
Epidemic, Quarterly Journal of Economics , (pp. 467-515).
Chaloupka, F., (1991) Rational addictive behavior and cigarette smoking, Journal of
Political Economy , (pp.722-42).
Geoffard, P-Y., & Philipson, T. (1997) Disease Eradication: Private vs Public
Vaccination, American Economic Review (pp. 222-230). b. Course objectives for the course (student – centered, behavioral focus)
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
 Evaluate empirical research pertaining to health behaviors and public health
 issues.
Apply empirical economic research methods to analyze economic theories of health and health care.
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 Design and implement research projects that are responsive to important health care policy issues.
c. Course topic outline
1.
Introduction, Macroeconomic Aspects of Health, Microeconomic tools.
2.
Incomplete or Missing Markets: Economic Evaluation
Cost-benefit Analysis
Cost -effectiveness Analysis
Cost-utility Analysis
Implication of discount rates and time preferences
3.
Market Failure and The Role of Government
Externalities
Taxes
Regulation
Public Financing of Healthcare, Medicare, Medicaid
Nonprofit Firms
4.
Issues with public and private insurance
Adverse Selection
Moral Hazard
Asymmetric Information
Agency and Principal-Agent effects
5.
Infectious Diseases, Risky Behaviors, Addiction d. List of course assignments, weighting of each assignment, and grading/evaluation system for determining a grade
Written and presentation assignments: Each week, students will be assigned to a particular research paper from the reading list and responsible for presenting that article to the class. The oral presentations must include a description of the issue(s), relevance to public health economics, as well as key study findings and implications. In addition, students are expected to participate in class discussions of all articles and submit a written comment. The comment can be any of the following: (i) a comparison of two or more articles; (ii) a work or personal experience that relates to an idea in the readings or lecture; (iii) your thoughts about an idea in the readings or lecture that seems particularly interesting. Comments should be one to one-and-a-half pages in length
(12-point font, double-spaced). Oral and written presentations will be graded on clarity and insightfulness. Class participation grades will be based on students’ preparation for class, asking questions, actively engaging in discussions about the topic and responding to questions.
Throughout the semester, students will be assigned to present and discuss and submit a two page policy brief that summarizes the results and implications of the research. An important skill for anyone interested in working in public health economics research or practice is the ability to summarize complex issues and to articulate concise arguments.
The policy brief should be 3 pages maximum and written for an audience of well
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educated non-economists.
Research Project: Students will prepare and implement a research project on a public health economics topic of her/his choice. The paper based on the research project will include a problem or issue statement, short discussion of prior scholarly work on the issue, a description of the appropriate theoretical model, description of the empirical method utilized in the project, discussion of experimental design, data description, interpretation of results and policy implications. ). A brief write-up (six-eight pages using 12-point font and double-spaced) of the selected topic must be submitted at the end of the course. Students are encouraged to discuss their ideas for a paper topic with me before getting started. Policy issues are acceptable but advocating particular choices must be supported by analysis (i.e., personal opinion is not adequate).
Exams:
There will be one midterm and one final exam.

Written and presentation assignments (25%),

Mid-term Exam (25%),

Comprehensive Final Exam (25%),

Research Paper (25%).
Evaluation System
A
B
C
F
90% to 100% Outstanding Performance
89% to 80% Acceptable Performance
79% to 70% Inadequate Performance
Below 70% Failure
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