ABSTRACT
Introduction Over twenty-five years ago, health economics research had begun laying the foundation for now-familiar arguments about the importance of prevention in the health economy. After his compelling ‘tale of two states’ comparing mortality rates in Utah and Nevada, Victor Fuchs (1974, pp. 54-5) concluded: ‘The greatest current potential for improving the health of the American people is to be found in what they do and don’t do to and for themselves. Individual decisions about diet, exercise, and smoking are of critical importance. . . .’ Michael Grossman’s (1972) model provided a theoretical framework for the argument. Diet, exercise, and smoking could be considered as inputs, on par with curative medical care, used by households to produce increments of health capital. Kenkel (2000) provides an up-to-date survey of health economics research on prevention.
