Professor Aki Tsuchiya, PhD(Kyoto)
HEDS, ScHARR
Regent Court, 30 Regent Street, Sheffield, S1 4DA, UK
Tel: (+44) (0)114 222 0710
Fax: (+44) (0)114 222 0749
Office: 109, ScHARR, West Court, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 4DP
Department of Economics
9 Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 4DT, UK
Tel: (+44) (0)114 222 3422
Fax: (+44) (0)114 222 3458
Office: 431
E-mail: a.tsuchiya@sheffield.ac.uk
ORCiD: 0000-0003-4245-5399
Biography
I hold a joint appointment between the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) and the Department of Economics.
I came to the UK in 1998 as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Economics, University of York, funded as an Overseas Post-Doctoral Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. I came to Sheffield and joined ScHARR in 2000, where I worked as a Research Associate, a Research Fellow, and a Lecturer. Since 2005 I have held a joint appointment between ScHARR and the Department of Economics, as a Senior Lecturer, a Reader, and a Professor. Currently, I am a member of the EuroQol Group, the Sheffield Centre for Criminological Research, and co-Director of the Centre for Well-being in Public Policy.
Research interests
- measuring, valuing, and modelling health, and other aspects of well-being
- incorporating equity concerns into social welfare functions
- normative economics of health and beyond
Teaching interests
- health economics for economists
- valuation of health states
- normative health economics
I teach health economics, which is about the application of economic tools to health, health care, and health care insurance. But, to what extent can we apply economics to matters of life and limb? Some think that whenever somebody’s life is at stake, it is unethical to think of costs, and thus “health” and “economics” sit very awkwardly with each other. However, if we ignore opportunity costs, then efficiency would be compromised and we would achieve less health overall. At the same time, most of us want a health care system that is not just efficient, but also equitable. Health economics enables the analysis of health care systems in the light of efficiency, equity, or both.
In health economics, there are numerous issues that involve judgements, with no easy right answers. Should we use monetary valuation of health to analyse the efficiency of different drugs? Should health policy aim to maximise health or to maximise more general wellbeing? Should we forego any efficiency in order to improve equity in health outcomes? My approach to teaching is to encourage taking an informed view on such issues, and then to defend these views (which may not agree with mine!).
Current projects
- Exploring non-iterative Time Trade-Off (ENITTO), funded by the EuroQol Group
Administrative roles
- Co-Director for Centre for Well-being in Public Policy
- Course Director for MSc Economics and Health Economics
- Member of Teaching Functional Working Group (HEDS, ScHARR)
Key publications
A full list of publications can be downloaded from the link in the box to the right of this page.
Journal articles
- Rowen D, Brazier J, Mukuria C, Keetharuth A, Risa Hole A, Tsuchiya A, Whyte S & Shackley P (2016) Eliciting Societal Preferences for Weighting QALYs for Burden of Illness and End of Life. Medical Decision Making, 36(2), 210-222.
- Mulhern B, Bansback N, Brazier J, Buckingham K, Cairns J, Devlin N, Dolan P, Hole AR, Kavetsos G, Longworth L, Rowen D & Tsuchiya A (2014) Preparatory study for the revaluation of the EQ-5D tariff: methodology report.. Health Technol Assess, 18(12), vii-191. View this article in WRRO
- Abasolo I & Tsuchiya A (2012) Is more health always better for society? Exploring public preferences that violate monotonicity.. Theory and Decision. View this article in WRRO
- Bansback N, Brazier J, Tsuchiya A & Anis A (2012) Using a discrete choice experiment to estimate health state utility values.. J Health Econ, 31(1), 306-318.
- Tsuchiya A & Dolan P (2009) Equality of what in health? Distinguishing between outcome egalitarianism and gain egalitarianism.. Health Econ, 18(2), 147-159.
- Cookson R, McCabe C & Tsuchiya A (2008) Public healthcare resource allocation and the Rule of Rescue. J MED ETHICS, 34(7). View this article in WRRO
- Tsuchiya A & Williams A (2005) A "fair innings" between the sexes: are men being treated inequitably?. Soc Sci Med, 60(2), 277-286.
- Abasolo I & Tsuchiya A (2004) Exploring social welfare functions and violation of monotonicity: an example from inequalities in health. J HEALTH ECON, 23(2), 313-329.
- Tsuchiya A (1999) Age-related preferences and age weighting health benefits.. Soc Sci Med, 48(2), 267-276.