Economics and Health

The Stanford Health Policy community is comprised of physicians, economists and decision scientists who study questions of domestic and global policy. From the cost-effectiveness and social impact of U.S. foreign aid to the impact of gun violence on public health, our researchers assess a broad range of important policy questions here at home and around the world.

Laurence Baker, PhD, is professor of health research and policy, and chair of the Department of Health Research and Policy within Stanford Medicine. An economist, Baker is interested in the organization and economic performance of the U.S. health-care system, such as financial incentives in health care, competition in health-care markets, health insurance and managed care, and health-care technology adoption.

Kate Bundorf, MBA, MPH, PhD, associate professor of health research and policy at the School of Medicine and chief of the Division of Health Services Research, focuses on health insurance, health-care financing and delivery and the access, cost and quality of care.

Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, is a professor of medicine and an economist who focuses on the constrains that vulnerable populations face in making decisions that affect their health status, as well as the effects of government policies and programs designed to benefit vulnerable populations. His textbook, Health Economics, is used widely by academics and students nationwide.

Marcella Alsan, MD, MPH, PhD, an infectious disease physician who is also an economist, focuses on the relationship between health and socioeconomic disparities with a focus on infectious disease, from the medical mistrust among African-American men today due to the Tuskegee syphilis trials, to the economics of health care for women and girls in the developing world.

David Chan, MD, PhD, is a physician and economist whose research draws on insights from labor and organizational economics. He is particularly interested in studying what drives physician behavior, how this explains differences in productivity in health care delivery, and what the implications are for the design of health care.

Maria Polyakova, PhD, an assistant professor of Health Research and Policy, investigates questions surrounding the role of government in the design and financing of health insurance systems.

Maya Rossin-Slater, PhD, is an assistant professor of Health Research and Policy whose research combines health, public, and labor economics. She focuses on issues in maternal and child well-being, family structure and behavior, and policies targeting disadvantaged populations in the United States and other developed countries.