Economics and public policy 0 NHS research and development as a public good

Abstract

This paper analyses National Health Service R&D as a Samuelsonian public good. It also identifies other characteristics of NHS R&D: supplier-induced demand; information asymmetries; jointness in production of R&D, medical education and health care; multiplicity in research funding sources; uncertainty about research outcomes; the difficulty of measuring and valuing research outcomes; and the behavioural characteristics of the institutions which produce R&D. The principal conclusion is that a centrally planned approach is unlikely to solve the problems arising from these characteristics, whereas the creation of an appropriate institutional and behavioural framework is more promising. The recent reforms in the arrangements for supporting R&D in the NHS can be seen as a response consistent with this analysis, are outlined and set in their historical context.R&D; supply and demand