Valuing health and health conditions: Providing “willingness to pay“ and “health related quality of life” measures

A Ph.D studentship at the Department of Economics at the School of Social Sciences is available for a project on valuing health and various health conditions.

The position is based on a three year grant although continued employment over the three years will be based on the progression of the applicants work.

The selected candidate will need to send a formal application for a Ph.D studentship at the University of Iceland in due time.

Description of the project:
The project has already been broadly laid out, and revolves around valuing health and health conditions.

Despite the difficulties when it comes to valuing health it is crucial in informing health policy. The compensating income variation (CIV) method will be used to estimate the sufficient monetary compensation to offset the welfare losses associated with the presence of sub-optimal health conditions. The statistical association between income, health, and well-being is thus used to generate an implied trade-off between income and health.

Despite methodological advantages over other „willingness to pay“ methods, the CIV literature is still very limited in its application to health conditions.

The aim of the research is to provide „willingness to pay“ measures as well as „health related quality of life“ measures. Such results have an obvious practical relevance and the scientific value lies both in the fact that the CIV method provides a robustness check for other methods traditionally used within the field of health economics, and examination of possibilities to value health states in circumstances where they have not been valued before.

The planned supervisory team consists of the following scholars:
 Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir, Professor at the University of Iceland
 Thorhildur Olafsdottir, Independant scholar
 Paul McNamee, Professor at the Univesity of Aberdeen
 Matt Sutton, Professor at the University of Manchester

Skills
The applicant needs to hold a M.Sc degree in Economics or relevent studies and be qualified to register in a Ph.D program within the Faculty of Economics at the University of Iceland.

Proficiency in quantitative research methods is required as well as good skills in both spoken and written English. The applicant needs to be able to work independently and have strong communication and interpersonal skills.

Application should contain:
• A formal application letter
• CV
• Confirmed certificates of education (BS and M.Sc degree)
• Two reference letters containing name, position, organizastion, email and phonenumber of the supporter
• Short description (max 2 pages) of the applicant‘s interests in the project and how he can contribute to the project. Why he is showing interest in the position and a short description of skills in quantitative research methods.

Please apply here: http://english.hi.is/vacancies_list
Application deadline is 31st of July 2016.

All applications will be acknowledged and applicants will be informed of the appointment when a decision has been taken.

For further information please contact Tinna Laufey Asgeirsdottir at [Email Address Removed] or +354-525-5273

It is important that an employment contract be signed before the 10th of September. However, innitiation of employment would upon agreement, but no later than the 1st of January 2017.

Appointments to positions at the University of Iceland are made in consideration of the Equal Rights Policy of the University of Iceland.

At the School of Social Sciences around 300 people are employed in research and teaching. There are around 4300 students at the School, diveded into six faculties.

The University of Iceland is the largest teaching, research and science institute in Iceland and is ranked among the top 300 universities in the world by Times Higher Education.

Aukaupplýsingar fyrir Euraxess

Nr of positions available : 1
Research Fields: Economics
Career Stage: Ph.D student
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