Health Care and Health Economics Programs Merge.

For nearly three decades, two NBER programs have studied issues related to health and health care. The Health Economics Program, which was launched in the early 1970s, focused on the economic determinants of health capital and analyzed individual behaviors such as smoking and substance abuse that affect it. The Health Care Program, created in 1994, emphasized research on the delivery of health care by medical professionals and hospitals, and also explored the role of public and private insurance in covering the cost of this care.

In recent years, a rising share of the affiliates in each of these programs has been involved in cross-cutting research that addresses topics that historically might have fallen within the other program's remit. To recognize the growing interdependence of research on health capital, health care delivery, and the financing of...