Abstract
Postmodernism and health economics are both concerned with questions about choices and values, risk and uncertainty. Postmodernists seek to respond to such questions in the context of a world of uncoordinated and often contradictory chances, a world devoid of clear-cut standards. Health economics seeks to respond using the constructs of modernity, including the application of reason to generate better order. In this article we present two sorts of voice. First we introduce postmodernism and those seeking to contribute to economics from a postmodern perspective. Second, we consider critics of a prevalent neo-classicism within health economics both from outside that paradigm and from those more closely associated with it. It is increasingly evident that (health) economics, as presently constituted, is failing both in its descriptive powers and its prescriptive possibilities. Postmodernism offers not just an alternative theoretical approach but the possibility of both expanding the scope of health economics and grounding it more appropriately in the everyday experience of those engaging with health systems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrews, D. A. (1996) Nothing is Hidden: a Wittgensteinian interpretation of Sraffa. Cambridge Journal of Economics 20, 763–777.
Backhouse, R. (Ed.) (1994) New Directions in Economic Methodology. London: Routledge.
Baktin, M. (1981) The Dialogical Imagination. Austin: University of Texas.
Barkley, K. and Barkley, L. (1998) Increasing the Value: Health, Economics and Qualitative Methods. Social Sciences in Health 4(1), 15–24.
Bauman, Z. (1989) Modernity and the Holocaust. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bauman, Z. (1992) Intimations of Postmodernity. London: Routledge.
Bauman, Z. (1998) Ziggy in an Age Without Stardust. Times Higher Educational Supplement, 15 May, p. 16.
Brown, V. (1994a) The Economy as Text. In R. Backhouse (Ed.), New Directions in Economic Methodology. London: Routledge.
Brown, V. (1994b) Metanarratives and Economic Discourse. Scandinavian Journal of Economics 96, 61–72.
Culyer, A. J. (1989) The Normative Economics of Health Care Finance and Provision. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 5, 34–58.
Department of Health (1989) Working for Patients, Cm 555. London: HMSO.
Department of Health (1997) The New HNS. Modern. Dependenable, Cm 3807. London: HMSO.
Dow, S. (1997) Mainstream Economic Methodology. Cambridge Journal of Economics 21, 73–93.
Ferlie, E. (1994) The Evolution of Quasi-markets in the NHS: Early Evidence. In Bartlett et al. (Eds.), Quasi-Markets in the Welfare State. Bristol: Policy Press.
Foucault, M. (1972) Power/Knowledge. New York: Free Press.
Fox, C. and Miller, H. (1995) Postmodern Public Administration: Toward Discourse. London: Sage.
Goddard, M. and Mannion, R. (1998) From Competition to Co-operation: New Economic Relationships in the NHS. Health Economics 7, 105–119.
Gergen, K. (1992) Organisation Theory in a Postmodern Era. In M. Reed, and M. Hough (Eds.), Rethinking Organisation Theory and Analysis. Sage: London.
Granovetter, M. (1992) Economic Institutions as Social Constructions: A Framework for Analysis. Acta Sciologica 35, 3–11.
Habermas, J. (1974) Theory and Practice. London: Hiennemann.
Hall, J., Viney R. and Wiseman, V. (1995) Unorthodox, Troublesome, Dangerous and Disobedient: A Feminist Perspective on Health Economics. Paper Presented to the Conference of Australian Health Economists. Park Royal Hotel, Brisbane, 6-7 July.
Henderson, W., Dudley Evans, T. and Backhouse, R. (1993) Economics and Language. London: Routledge.
Hausman, D. M. (1994) Kuhn, Lakatos and the Character of Economics. In R. Backhouse, op cit.
Hurley, J. (1998) Welfarism, Extra-Welfarism and Evaluative Economic Analysis in Health. In M. Getzen Barer and G. Stoddart (Eds.), Health, Health Care and Health Economics. Chicester: John Wiley.
Ingham, G. (1996) Some Recent Changes in the Relationship Between Economics and Sociology. Cambridge Journal of Economics 20, 243–275.
Klamier, A., McCloskey, D. N. and Solow, R. M. (1988) The Consequences of Economic Rhetoric. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kuhn, T. (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Leifer, E. and White, H. (1987) A Structural Approach to Markets. In M. Mizruchi and M. Schwartz (Eds.), Intercorporate Relations - the Structural Analysis of Business. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lunt, N., Mannion, R. and Smith, P. (1996) Economic Discourse and the Market. Public Administration 74(3), 369–391.
McCloskey, D. (1985) The Rhetoric of Economics. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Mannion, R. and Smith, P. (1996) Trust and Reputation in Community Care. In P. Anand and A. McGuire (Eds.), Changes in Health Care. London: Macmillan Press.
Mirowski, P. (1994) What Are the Questions? In R. Backhouse (Ed.), op. cit.
Mooney, G. (1998) Economics, Communitarianism and Health Care. In M. Barer, T. Getzen and G. Stoddart (Eds.), Health, Health Care and Health Economics. Chichester: John Wiley.
NHS Executive (1998) Research: What's in It for Consumers? London: Department of Health.
Noordhaven, N. (1995) The Argumentational Texture of Transaction Cost Economics. Organisation Studies 16(4), 221–241.
Robinson, J. (1980) Collected Papers, vol 5. Cambridge MA; MIT Press.
Rorty, R. (1979) Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Samuels, W. J. (1990) Economics as Discourse: An Analysis of the Language of Economics. London: Kluwer.
Schrijvers, T. (1991) Dialectics of a Dialogical Ideal: Studying Down Studying Sideways and Studying up. In L. Rencel and P. Pels (Eds.), Constructing Knowledge. London: Sage.
Sen, A. and Dreze, J. (1989) Poverty and Famine: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. London: Macmillan.
Shiel, A. (1996) The Value of Community. Paper Presented at the International Health Economics Association Conference, Vancouver, Canada, 19-23 May.
Small, N. (1996) The Critical Welfare Agenda. In N. Lunt and D. Coyle (Eds.), Welfare and Policy: Agendas and Issues. Taylor and Francis (pp. 176–197).
Straffa, P. (1926) The Law of Returns under Competitive Conditions. Economic Journal 36, 535–550.
Tyler, S. (1991) A Post-Modern-in-Stance. In L. Nencel and P. Pels (Eds.), Constructing Knowledge: Authority and Critique in Social Science. London, Sage.
Weintraub, E. (1991) Stabilising Dynamics: Constructing Economic Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Williamson, O. E. (1975) Markets and Hierarchies. New York: Free Press.
Wiseman, V. (1997) Caring: The Neglected Health Outcome? Or Input? Health Policy 39(1), 43–53.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mannion, R., Small, N. Postmodern Health Economics. Health Care Analysis 7, 255–272 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009400926449
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009400926449