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Member Information
Li-Wei Chao MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesia/Critical Care Medicine
Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics
Office Phone: (215) 898-8483
Office Fax: (215) 898-2124
Email: chao69@wharton.upenn.edu
Website(s): http://www.pop.upenn.edu/people/bios02/chao.html
Education: PhD 2002, University of Pennsylvania ; MD 1991, University of Chicago
Keywords: Health Economics, Aging, AIDS, Africa , International Public Health, Vaccine and Drug Policy
Research and/or Clinical Interests:
Applications of microeconomics to health services research on topics such as HIV/AIDS stigma; funerals; information, quality of life, and response shift; vaccine and drug procurement.
Summary:
Dr. Chao's research interest focuses on issues related to AIDS and to Aging, both in the U.S. and in developing countries. (1) "Economic analysis of funerals in Malawi and South Africa " examines the intergenerational and inter vivos transfers surrounding funerals in AIDS-related and non-AIDS-related deaths in South Africa and in Malawi and explores the rationale for funerals in the African context as well as the health impact of deaths, funerals, and grieving. (2) "Impact of poor health and HIV/AIDS on small businesses in South Africa " examines whether growth of small and informal sector businesses in South Africa is hampered by poor health such as AIDS and how business owners are coping with the business impact of poor health. (3) "Educator and pupil training in HIV/AIDS" is a project that develops and evaluates some hands-on teaching tools for HIV prevention, one targeting educators in South Africa, teaching them how to engage in issues related to HIV/AIDS, and the other targeting pupils from grades 3 through 12. (4) "Social capital, income inequality, and health disparities in the US" uses the HRS/AHEAD data to examine the health impact of personalized social capital (measured by a person's access to social networks, family, and friends), economy-wide social capital (measured by the geographic-specific levels of civic engagement, trust, and helpfulness), and their interactions with each other as well as with socioeconomic status, using as measures of health impact both contemporaneous self-reported health and future mortality. (5) "International vaccine and drug procurement" is a project that studies the mechanisms used by UNICEF, CDC, NGOs, and governments to procure drugs and vaccines, the potential impact of these mechanisms on demand and on supply, including the impact on the incentives for innovation. (6) "Economic analysis of HIV/AIDS Stigma in South Africa and Malawi " studies the impact of stigma and discrimination, both due to HIV/AIDS and due to other causes, on health, on employment opportunities, and on other outcomes and behaviors.
Representative Publications:
Danzon, P.M., Chao, L.-W. Cross-national price differences for pharmaceuticals: How large and why? Journal of Health Economics 19:159-195, 2000.
Danzon, P.M., Chao, L.-W. Prices, competition and regulation in pharmaceuticals: A cross-national comparison. ( London : Office of Health Economics), 2000.
Danzon, P.M., Chao, L.-W. Does regulation drive out competition in markets for pharmaceuticals? Journal of Law and Economics 43:311-358, 2000.
Chao, L.-W. A comparison of consensus and nonconsensus approaches to modeling contraceptive choice behavior. Health Economics 11:599-622, 2002.
