Research Seminar

Per Molander: Public versus private healthcare systems in the OECD area – a broad evaluation of performance

Date: 3 September 2025
Time: 10:00-11:45

Venue: Institute for Futures Studies, Holländargatan 13 in Stockholm or online 

Research seminar with Per Molander, PhD in control engineering and Bachelor's in mathematics, literature, etc. Throughout his career, he has worked on applying research in the political decision-making process within areas such as fiscal policy institutions, social insurance, environmental, and food policy. This has been done from various positions within and close to the Government Offices and as Director-General for Inspektionen för socialförsäkringen. He has also worked internationally as an advisor to, among others, the World Bank, IMF, and OECD.

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Abstract

Healthcare systems can be categorised along the public/private axis into two main types: publicly administered systems and systems based on compulsory health insuranceprovided by the private sector. This study compares the efficiency of these two models across the 38 member countries of the OECD, utilising a broad spectrum of performance indicators developed by the OECD secretariat. On average, performance improves with an increase in healthcare budgets; however, further enhancements come at rising costs. There is no evidence supporting the hypothesis that transitioning from a publicly administered system to a privately dominated system will enhance efficiency. By contrast, there is strong evidence that overall efficiency increases with the public share of financing. These conclusions also hold true for the more restricted group of OECD countries in Europe.

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