Applied Health Econometrics
- Group summary: The Applied Health Econometrics Group in the Academic Unit of Health Economics discusses quantitative methods in health and health care with a particular focus on causal inference and implementation in economic evaluation. We host presentations of modern empirical methods and discuss methodological issues. For further information please contact Dan Howdon.
What we do
Econometric methods provide important quantitative tools for answering complex questions in applied health research. Our research group meets regularly to discuss methodological advancements, share knowledge and experiences, and develop new research ideas.
Health economists in our Applied Health Econometrics Group have a wide range of expertise, including (but not limited to) causal inference and advanced trial analysis. Recent projects include:
- Supporting the ARISE project with two econometric analyses. First, colleagues used staggered triple difference models to estimate the causal impact of employment status transition on mental health and life satisfaction among individuals living with arthritis. Then they estimated the employment trajectories of individuals with arthritis and mental health conditions using longitudinal models, latent-class analysis, Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA).
- Using survey data from UK Household Longitudinal Survey to understand the impact of cancer on wellbeing and the impact of end-of-life unpaid caregiving on poverty with staggered difference-in-difference and triple difference methods.
- Estimation of the effectiveness of NHSE's Complications of Excess Weight (CEW) clinics and long-term trajectories using mixed methods and simulation modelling in support of the ENHANCE Research Study.
- Using routinely collected NHS data to understand the costs of cancer and employ causal mediation analyses to assess if spending mediates the deprivation gap in cancer survival as part of the ENQUIRE project. The team will use these analyses to work with key healthcare partners to identify how policy can address the deprivation gap.
- Identifying distinct subgroups of frequent emergency department users using latent class analysis and linked NHS datasets, and quantifying their patterns of healthcare utilisation, costs and mortality to inform more targeted and effective service design in support of the FUsED project.
- Supervision of doctoral students using quasi-experimental and non-experimental methods for causal analysis of observational data. Current doctoral student Huahan Yang is assessing impact of contemporary economic shocks on health and financial inequalities among UK workers, using non-experimental methods to derive causal effects from datasets including Understanding Society.
We are a collaborative group and welcome researchers from other domains interested in applied econometrics to join us. We are very happy to collaborate on research proposals and to support students with an interest in this field
Who we are
Group Lead
Dr Dan Howdon
Related groups
The Applied Health Econometrics Group sits under the Academic Unit of Health Economics, alongside the following research groups:
- Decision Modelling Group
- Evidence Synthesis Group
- Test Evaluation Group
- Academic Unit of Health Economics