This is a seminar course focusing the tools of microeconomic theory in modeling individual and provider behavior using examples drawn from the health literature. The course introduces students to problems of unconstrained and constrained optimization. Additional topics considered include non-negativity constraints, questions concerning planning over multiple periods, and the issues of uncertainty and unanticipated health shocks. Students are expected to develop their own theoretical model with testable predictions, which in most cases will serve as the basis for the theoretical chapter of their dissertation. Students must have completed Advanced Health Economics and Policy Analysis (HAD5760H) and be familiar with intermediate calculus.

Objectives: To introduce participants to the theoretical tools used in economic analysis. To enable participants to apply these theoretical tools to the analysis of a range of health policy issues. To develop analytic skills so that participants can critically evaluate theoretical models encountered in the health economics literature.