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Article Information:
Club Goods in the Health and Wellness Sector
Roger Lee Mendoza
Corresponding Author: Roger Lee Mendoza
Submitted: January 03, 2012
Accepted: February 17, 2012
Published: April 30, 2012 |
Abstract:
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This study applies club theory to privately-provided and publicly-funded services within the health
and wellness sector. Specifically, it examines the theoretical and practical premises and dilemmas of club
provision, production, distribution and regulation using illustrations derived from cross-cultural settings.
Because health and wellness contain public or merit good aspects and the quality of services in this sector is
difficult to systematically evaluate even from a regulatory standpoint, tensions inevitably and constantly arise
between efficiency and equity objectives. These tensions often have broader and longer-term policy
implications, for excludability is both the cardinal virtue and vice of health and wellness clubs offering vital
social resources rather than durable or non-durable goods and their complimentary goods. Although many of
the club issues we explore in health care present opportunities for public policy intervention, the study sounds
a cautious note. It proposes a set of efficiency and accountability criteria to establish, or at least gauge, the
necessity, extent and consequences of such intervention. To the famous idiom, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,”
we therefore hasten to add “and, if it’s broke, think more than twice before you even try to fix it.”
Key words: Club, distributional efficiency, economies of scale/scope, equity, excludability, externalities, optimality, policy intervention, production, provision, rivalry, transaction costs
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Cite this Reference:
Roger Lee Mendoza, . Club Goods in the Health and Wellness Sector. Current Research Journal of Economic Theory, (2): 18-28.
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ISSN (Online): 2042-485X
ISSN (Print): 2042-4841 |
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