Determinants of Health

Dean Lillard, The Ohio State University:
This volume collects papers that rest on and flow from Michael Grossman’s seminal 1972 model of health capital. The coherent and impressive body of work informs and serves as a “hypothesis generating machine.” Discerning readers will be inspired to push the frontier of knowledge about the rational production of health.

John Cawley, Cornell University, coeditor of the Journal of Health Economics:
Michael Grossman is one of the founders of the field of health economics, who has contributed enormously to our understanding of the demand for health, the relationship between education and health, determinants of infant health, and the economics of risky health behaviors. This volume of his best, most often-cited articles (which are required reading in graduate courses in health economics) is long overdue. I use and cite these papers routinely, and this volume will have a prominent place on my bookshelf, next to the works of Gary Becker.

Jonathan Gruber, Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
They say that success has many fathers—and one clear share of paternity for the incredibly successful field of health economics belongs to Grossman. His work on health capital defined the framework for economists' modeling health outcomes, and his broad empirical agenda has led the way in applying the model. And his research agenda on addictive behaviors paved the way for the entry of this area into mainstream health economics. This book is a terrific chance for those inside and outside the field to reflect on Grossman's many accomplishments.

Joseph Newhouse, Harvard University:
A volume of Grossman's selected works is long overdue. One of the founders of the field of health economics, he has been an incredibly prolific researcher, and there is enormous value to having his seminal papers available in book form.