Health Economics The purpose of this assignment is to expose you to health economic literature and health economic evaluations, to enhance critical thinking and ability to assess the quality of the existing evidence and therefore equip you with invaluable skills for decision-making in healthcare settings. The essay is a final product of the coursework, which will include several stages: 1. Selection of the main question of interest. To start with, you are expected to choose one piece of published quantitative research from one of the journals listed in the Reading list, which lies broadly within one of the topics of the module. You should make your choice in consultation with the module convenor by the end of Week 1. The article can be on any health economics topic of your choice out of those covered in the module, and it must contain empirical (statistical) analysis. 2. Prepare a 5-minute brief on the chosen article during the seminar corresponding to the chosen topic which will be followed by a 5 minutes discussion, moderated by the seminar leader, to help you identify areas of further exploration around your chosen question. The brief should include the research question, policy/practice importance, methodology and contribution of the article to the literature. 3. Identify other published research (not less than 5 articles), which will form the evidence base for your final essay and discuss this choice with one of the lecturers. 4. Write a final report, which contains the following sections: Introduction: Description of the research problem, review of the literature, and a description of this articles contribution. Theory: Description of the theoretical model and empirical methodology, expected effects. Empirical evidence: Description of the data, analysis and results, weaknesses or limitations. Discussion and conclusions: Interpretation of the findings in the other reviewed articles, discussion of weaknesses and limitations, conclusions concerning the strength of reviewed evidence for use in decision-making.