Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents
Published on: September 10, 2018
Cost-utility analysis from a societal perspective
1Centre for Health Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden. HEMJ@HHS.SE
Abstract:
In this paper, we outline how to use cost-utility analysis from a societal perspective and the arguments that could be made for using data such as a model for economic evaluation of health care. We show that to include all the costs in the analysis, a price per quality-adjusted life years (QALY) gained rather than a given budget should be used as the decision rule. Using cost-utility analysis this way is based on a willingness to pay per QALY gained that is constant and the same for everyone. To use a fixed price per QALY gained is consistent with societal utility maximization if aggregated QALYs are a measure of societal utility and if the mix of financing sources is the same for all health care programmes. If, furthermore, the price per QALY gained is set at the optimal level, cost-utility analysis will lead to a maximization of societal utility. To get more information on the willingness to pay per QALY gained so as to provide cost-utility analysis with a useful decision rule should be a research priority.
Related Concept Videos
Naturalistic Observations
Social Exchange Theory
Social Traps
Decision Making: P-value Method
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses: a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can have a...
Social Exchange Theory
Applications of Integration to Find Consumer Surplus

