CHAPTER 1: Health and Social economic

What is health?
Health is not only based on the absence of diseases but also is a dynamic state of complete physical, mental,
spiritual, and social well-being. Health is a measure of our body’ efficiency and over all well-being.

Health triangle: A measure of the different aspects of health.

- Mental: Be happy / Cope with stress / Ignore the news
- Physical: Healthy diet / Exercise / Drink enough water / Enough rest
- Social: Good communication / Determine your potential
The triangle of health would determine by physical like you are able to take care you yourself or you can do
your normal activities like walking, running, eating, and enjoying life. Mentally, it means you are not under
stress, do not have conflict-minded, do not worry about things too much, and are happy with your life.
Spiritual, which is something that is inside your mind, the way you think, the way you look at the world, and
not always pessimistic that look everything in a negative way. Also, social well-being by socializing with
others and making friends.

Why health is important?

Health is fundamental to life. Wealth cannot buy health or life. In other words, health can create wealth. If you
are healthy enough, you will be able to perform well in your work. It is also an important contribution to the
economic aspect, as healthy populations will live longer and more productively.
- Social perspective: Better health is a central to human happiness and well-being.
- Economic perspective: As healthy populations live longer, more productive & save more.

What is economics?
- Economics is the study of choices. Since we are unable to have everything we desire, we must make
choices on how we will use out resources. (Limited resources to serve unlimited needs).
- It is the study of how individuals, government, businesses, and other organizations make choices that
effect the allocation and distribution of scare resources. (How people make choice in an attempt to
satisfy their unlimited want with limited resources).

The importance of economics

- How to distribute resources: understand customer behavior
- Opportunity cost of decisions
- Understanding consumer behavior
- How to fix market failure: It is impossible to let the market goes by itself. In healthcare, it depends on
producer than consumer because of unequal knowledge.
- Give forecasts to economy
- Give info to make informed choices
- How to achieve social efficiency: improve health of the whole country with limited budget
The healthcare market is not a perfectly competitive market. Healthcare is an important example of
marketing failure because it depends on the producer (doctor) than the consumer (patient) because of unequal
information. Thus, economics is a tool to fix market failure and can help to make decisions.

What is health economics?

- An applied economics theories of consumer, producer and social choice.
- health economies aim to understanding the behavior of individuals, health care providers, organizations,
governments in decision-making.
- It allows for the systematic and rigorous examination of the problems faced in promoting health for all.
- The study of how scare resources are allocated among alternatives uses for the care of sickness and the
promotion, maintenance and improvement of health. (Including costs and benefits).
- It defined as the application of the theories, concepts and techniques of economies to the health sectors.
Health economics is the technique of economics to the health sectors to allocate limited resources among the
use of alternative health improvements and health-related services to assess costs and benefits.

Importance of health economics

- To evaluate the relative costs and benefits of particular policy options
- To estimate the effects of the certain economic variables like user charges, time and distance costs of
accessibility, on the utilization of health services.

What is socioeconomics?
- The study of how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes.
- Societies are divided into 3 groups: Social / Culture / Economic
- It also refers to the way social and economic factors influence the economy.
- The study includes analysis of demographic structure, population, dynamics, infrastructure resources,
status of human health, and economic attributes like employment, per-capita income, agriculture, trade,
and industrial development in the study region.
- Analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local or regional
economy, or the global economy.
Socioeconomic is a combination of social and economic factors that influence an economy. It mainly focuses
on how social status affects people's health. Moreover, demographic structure has a huge impact on the
economy. The world is entering an aging society where they normally do not work and do not receive any
income. Most of them lives on savings. It also influences the healthcare sector because they get sick easily. At
the same time, the working-age population declines and has to work harder.

Socioeconomic indicators
- Indicators are data or combination of data collected and processed for a clearly defined analytical or
policy purpose.
- It provides a background to understanding the health scenario in country.
- Ex: Poverty rate, Unemployment rate, Average household income, Bankruptcy rate

Chapter 2: Health and Health care system

What is health system?

- It consists of all organizations, institutions, and resources that are devoted to producing health actions
whose primary purpose is to promote, restore, and maintain the health of the people in the country,
which can be achieved by having a well- trained workforce in the system, a well-maintained facility to
treat patients, having a budget to spend on pharmaceutical products and medical devices and logistics to
deliver quality medicines.
- Poverty: Poor people are very difficult for them to access to the healthcare system even it is provided
for free because it is hard for them to reach the facility. Like they have to spend money on transportation
to go to the hospital or for caretaker, especially for those whose very sick.
- For those who have low education, it is hard to convince them to behave well. (Ex: smoke, drink)
- Infrastructure: It is difficult for government to build the facility in every location because it takes a lot
of budgets to build a hospital, to hire people to work in the remote area.
- Make sure all people in the country have a good health status, allocate optimal resource to make system
works, create infrastructure that they can access  to prevent disease, to promote healthcare, to restore
their health.

Aims:
- To delivers quality services go all people, when and where they need them.
 - It requires a robust finance mechanism/ a well-trained and adequate paid workforce/ reliable
information on which to base decisions and policies/ well-maintained facilities / logistics to deliver
quality medicines and technologies.
Importance of health system:
- Promote and improve health for individuals or groups (clean air and water)
- Avert dangers to health
- Protect people against financial disasters as consequences of ill health
- Provide equitable access of health care (people in different conditions ex: people in the forest is hard to
go to the facility)
- Enable people to participate in decisions affecting their health (build something that effect to
environment ex: building factory, coal factory that have health impact assessment that can spread toxic
to public)

6 Building blocks of a health system: To make sure every country in the world can receive good healthcare

1) Service delivery: All services dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of disease, promotion, maintenance
and restoration of health.

- Prevention / Treatment / Promotion / Rehabilitation

The delivery of services may be through government, non-government or private healthcare providers and
financed by different mechanisms. Ex: patient fees, health insurance, government subsidy.

2) Health workforce: sufficient numbers and mix of staff, fairly distributed; they are competent, responsive
and productive to achieve the best health outcomes.

- Professional: Physician / Dentist / Pharmacist / Nurse / Physical therapist / Radiologic technologist /

Medical technologist / Medical laboratory / Scientist

- Non-professional: Nutritionist / Accountant / Traffic controller / Cuisine / Do laundry

3) Health information system: To ensure the production, analysis, and use of reliable and timely information
on health status.

- It is a national asset that used by policy-makers, health care providers and general public track health-
system performance, to support better health policies and make effective health related decisions.

- WHO assists to strengthen capacity, improve data quality and put in place information systems to
generate more reliable population health information, such as vital statistics.

- Ex: health status and health statistics (morbidity, Mortality, Fertility)

4) Access to essential medicine: To ensure the equitable access to essential medical products, vaccines, and
technologies of assured quality, safety, efficacy, affordable, available at all time and cost effectiveness.

5) Health care financing: Analyzing health policies, raises adequate funds, sources of funds and ensure
adequate spending on health to ensure that people can use needed services and protect them from financial
catastrophe. It concerned with how resources are allocated and used in different health systems.
6) Leadership and governance: Ensuring strategic policy frameworks exist and are combined with effective
oversight, coalition-building, regulation, attention to system-design and accountability. A wide range of
functions carried out by governments to improve population health while ensuring equity in access to services,
quality of services, and patient’s rights.

3 Public insurance schemes: Anyone in Thailand who has an ID card will be covered by one of these 3
programs.

Civil Medical Benefit Scheme Social Security Scheme Universal Coverage

(CSMBS) (SSS) Scheme (UCS)
For government employees and For private employees For the rest of population not
their dependence. Covers all costs covered by CSMBS and SSS
because the salary is low. It covered (Biggest scheme)
high ratio because it covers retired
people and their family.
Source of General tax Triparty (shared by General tax
finance employer, employee,
government)
Providers Mainly public hospitals Public and private hospitals. Mostly district hospitals

Chapter 3: Law and Regulations

Organization structure of the Ministry of Public Health (name and the importance, clarify the function of
departments)

What is regulation?

- The promulgation of rules by government accompanied by mechanisms for monitoring and

enforcement.

- It involves the exercise of a government’s law-making power relates to the use of laws and legal tools
to affect behavioral change. Ex: a government may put in place mandatory rules requiring the
operators of a health facility to obtain an authorization before they provide services, and impose
sanctions where the rules are not obeyed.

- Any form of direct state intervention in the economy. It refers to other regulatory tools a government
can use to control or influence conduct in the health system. Includes economic tools and market
instruments (tobacco taxes, nursing school quotas, drug pricing mechanisms) and disclosure regulation
(requiring health providers to disclosure certain information to consumers to empower them to make
better choice).
 - All mechanisms of social control affecting all aspects of behavior. The government have a choice: do
they regulate themselves, or do they allow nongovernment actors to self-regulate?

What is law? (the most important types of regulation)

Laws are rules that govern behavior. It is legislation created and enforced through social or government
institutions to regulate behavior. It is something that touches our lives on a daily basis, it governs what we can
and cannot do, it is used to settle disputes, to punish and to govern. Laws play a central role in social, political
and economic life.

- Made by a legislature: Primary legislation (states or acts)

- By executives or local government through secondary legislation (decrees, regulations, bylaw)

- By judges through the making of binding legal precedent (common law jurisdiction)

Characteristics of Law:

- Set of rules: to ensure that everyone in the country coexist peacefully and to ensure that someone's
behavior does not infringe upon the rights of others. It highlights what should be done.

- Govern human conduct: citizens are told what to do and what not to do in various situation by the law.

- Enforced: to ensure the laws are followed. Failure to comply, stipulated punishment is given to all law
breakers

- Created and upheld by the state

- Backed by coercive authority: there is a group of people who were given the power by the government
to restrict and control people to obey the law.

Responsible organization:

- Ministry of Public Health

- Department of Health Service Support

- Provincial Medical Office

- Professional council

- Medical council of Thailand

- Pharmacy council of Thailand

- Dental council

- Physical Therapy council

 - Thailand nursing and Midwifery council

Chapter 1: Demand for healthcare

Production function of health: When you are sick, the health status will drop and you will need healthcare
inputs to be healthy.

Healthcare inputs: (which one is HC inputs g&s)

Healthcare goods (Products) Healthcare services

Drug (Medicine) Prevention
- Modern medicine
- Traditional medicine
Vaccine, Serum Promotion
- Hospital that offers consumers prenatal nutrition classes
- Aerobic classes offered by city recreation departments
Medical equipment Treatment
- Ambulance - Modern medicine
- Auroscope - Traditional and alternative med. (diagnosis, medication, surgery)
- Cupboard - Examining blood pressure, X-ray, certain therapies.
Medical supply (ของที่ใช้ แล้ วหมด) Rehabilitation
- Needle - Exercises to improve a person’s communication after a brain injury.
- Modifying an older person’s home environment to improve their
- Alcohol
safety and reduce their risk of falls.
- Mask - Educating to use a prosthesis after a leg amputation.
- Cotton - Positioning and splinting techniques to assist with skin healing to
- Detergent regain movement after burn surgery.
- Plaster - Psychological support for a person with depression.
- Training in the use of a white cane, for a person with vision loss.

Others Others
- Healthy food - Cosmetic surgery
- Supplementary food - Anti-aging medicine
- Herb - Elderly care center
- Cosmetic - Spa / Massage
5 Key words of economics:
- Choice / Unlimited want / Factors of production (Land, Labor, Capital, Entre.) / Scarcity / Goods and
Services
Roles of entrepreneur in business
- Show initiative: Through being proactive, planning ahead, and demonstrate by taking steps to start the
business.
- Be innovative: By changing, adapting, and developing their products and the way they do things. Or
may adapting existing business ideas and products (lightbulbs being adapted to energy-efficient LED
lightbulb)
- Identify opportunities: Seek which new products to release and expand to different markets. Coming
up with an initial business idea and spotting to act on the idea.
- Organizing resources: Must be able to efficiently manage employees, money, buildings, products and
other business resources.

Meaning of demand and supply in economics:

The relationship between the quantity of a commodity that producers wish to sell at various prices and the
quantity that consumers wish to buy.

Demand for healthcare

- Demand analysis seeks to identify which factors are most influential in determining how much care
people are willing to purchase

Why healthcare is different from other goods and services?

Why demand of healthcare is different from other goods?

The demand for healthcare comes from the desire of the consumer to gain good health. Most people prefer
being healthy to being sick. Another factor that makes health care different from most other goods and services
is that it is simultaneously an investment. The money consumer spends on being healthy today will also benefit
the consumer in the future. Another key characteristic of health care is that demand is relatively inelastic [5]. If
a consumer is sick and requires medical care, the consumer will purchase healthcare services at almost any
price. The consumers’ ability to purchase healthcare is ultimately limited by the customers’ income, but
consumers are likely to trade off spending on many other products to purchase the medical care needed. Unlike
other goods or services, the quality of health makes it difficult to meet the ideal market solution. Health is not a
marketable product.

Also, healthcare providers are usually more knowledgeable about illness and treatments than their patients.
Patients depend on their provider to act in the best interest, but there is a conflict of interest because the
providers are selling the services to the patient. In this case, demand and supply are interwoven and jointly
determined by the individual at the same time, and this can lead to market failure. For example, if a provider’s
motivation is driven by profit or increased income, the provider may order more services and tests than
required. Hence, the consumer pays more for unnecessary services without having knowledge of it.
Furthermore, with other services or goods such as purchasing an automobile, the buyer does not have to have
years of education before understanding the best vehicle for his or needs. This information can be found via
several avenues such as automobile books, car television channels and from an internet search.

Need VS Want
- A need is something that is necessary for humans to live a healthy life. A deficiency would cause a
clear negative outcome such as dysfunction or death.

- A want is something that is desired. People have unlimited wants, but limited resources. Thus, people
cannot have everything they want and must look for the best alternatives which they can afford.

Demand
- The behavior of consumers. It does not mean the desire to obtain something.
 - The hungry man who cannot pay for food has no demand for it.
- An individual’s demand for a good is the various quantities of goods and services that consumer is
willing and able to buy at each specific price.

Need
Someone’s subjective idea (may be based on a
formula applied objectively, but the choice to use
the formula was someone’s subjective idea)
Money is not a factor
Demand
Objectively observable as behavior in the market
Money is a key factor
“demand” is also called “effective demand” because
it is expressed only be spending money.

A model of demand for medical care

- When consumers purchase goods and services for the utility.
- If the commodity demanded by consumers is good health, then can be produced by goods and services
purchased in the market as well as by the time devoted to preventive measures.
- Demand for medical care is derived from the more basis demand for health. It means that demand
want to increase health status or demand for obtaining normal health status.

Reasons of Consumers demand for health

- Health is a consumption commodity: It makes the consumer feel better
- Health is an investment commodity: A state of health will determine the amount of time available to
the consumer for productivity.
Grossman’s demand model: Every one inherits a stock of health when born
Medical care demand derived from the demand for health. As…
- Health depreciated overtime. An increase in age, resulting in an increase in rate of illness and in the
utilization of health services.
- However, the stock of health can be sustained by investment to maintain health such as the use of
health services and health promoting activities.
- Over life cycle, people will attempt to increase their stock of health by increasing their expenditure on
health.
- The demand for medical care will increase with increases in person’s income. (buy supplement
products or even when the government provide standard service but you can pay out of pocket for more
convenient)
- Education may have negative effect on demand for healthcare because more highly educated people are
presumed to be more efficient in producing health. (poor consume instant noodles but the rich will be
educated and know what is good and bad for health)

Grossman’s model demand:

- Individual/Client factors (age, sex, education, occupation)
- Environment factors (physical, economic, social, cultural)
- Prepayment factors (private insurance, tax-based health insurance, national health system, out of pocket
payment)
- Healthcare resources factors (supply, access, acceptability)

Distinctive characteristics of health sector

- Consumer ignorance / non-profit motive / large components of personal service / restrictions on
competition / unpredictable incidence of illness / external effects (herd immunity) / mixture of
consumption and investment elements

Other economics factors affecting demand

Changes in factors other than the price of the good itself lead to shifts in the demand curve. (แยกแต่ละ factor ให้
ออก)
- Income: If income increase, consumer is willing and able to purchase more quantity at any given price.
- Complements: (2 or more goods which are consumed together): such as contract lenses and optometrist
visits. If the contract lenses become cheaper, demand for optometrist visits will increase.
- Substitutes: (other goods that satisfy same wants and provide the same characteristics): Such as generic
and brand name drugs. If generic drugs in price, demand for brand name will decrease. Ex: Private &
public hospitals.

Chapter 2: The supply of healthcare

The supply of healthcare goods and services is very different and complex compared to other commodities
as it consists of many inputs that are combined with each other to produce an end product of having better
health.

For example, when you are sick, you will need many inputs, such as advice from a physician, health facilities,
pharmaceuticals, medical technologies, and other inputs in making a good health.

Inputs:
- An expert advice from physician
- Health facilities: Hospital / Lab / Ambulatory / Centers
- Pharmaceuticals: Cost of inventing new drug is expensive. “Patent” will help to recover a firm’s R&D
expense and give ability for firm to set high prices. After the patent period expires, monopoly will over
and allowing competition to set in.
- Medical technologies
- Man power: MD / RD / Pharmacists / Dentist / PT
- Health insurances
- Others (Research and training, information, law and regulations, etc.)

Physicians play a crucial role and is the most important input because they are highly skilled manpower that
takes a long time to produce and take many years to become specialists. The physician is the one who advises
particular actions and helps the patient make decisions because the patient has no knowledge and aptitude in
this field. Moreover, they are involved in delivering healthcare services such as surgery and giving
immunization.

Technology and specialization

- Technology improvement in diagnosis and therapeutic has improved the outcomes of medical
intervention and surgical interventions.
- Manpower has increased the accuracy of diagnosis and therapeutics.

Demand side: Population and the effectiveness of health promotion and disease preventive program

Supply side: Depends on capacities of hospitals that depends on other inputs

Supplier induced demand (สภาวะที่คนขายสามารถสร้ างให้ เกิด demand หรื อความต้ องการได้ ผู้ซื ้อเสรี แต่ผ้ ขู ายไม่เสรี )
Physicians decide what the patient needs and is also the supplier of products and services. For example, the
pediatrician during the consultation decides or recommends vaccines to infant patients which a pediatrician
may also be supplied. Or when a doctor examines your health and tells you that you need surgery, causing you
to go to the hospital for surgery.

Healthcare Market
The healthcare market is a sector in the industrial economy that provides goods and services to treat patients
with curative and preventive. In the theoretical framework of resource allocation, it should be decentralized.
But in reality, resource allocation may be conducted at a centralized or decentralized level such as a vaccine,
health manpower, and budget.

Physicians can be both producer and provider

A physician as a producer is not only interested in the highest profit but also in utility. Since physicians must
be medically ethical and are need to be controlled by a medical license as a consumer has limited knowledge
about health compared to a physician. Even the doctor came out to open a private clinic to act as an
entrepreneur as well. But they have to think about the patient's utility. A physician as a consumer can induce
demand for healthcare goods and services. A consumer may not responsible for health expenditure but the
third party. As anyone in Thailand who has an ID card will be covered by one of three public insurance
schemes: CSMBS, SSS, UCS.

The Industrial Organization Triad (IO: SCP)

It is referring to the structure, conduct, performance paradigm that is a useful tool for analyzing the healthcare
market. As an entrepreneur, it is necessary to understand the market to maximize your benefits. It states that
market structure would determine firm conduct which would determine performance.

Chapter3: Socioeconomics of Orient World

There are 195 countries in the world.
193 countries that are member states of United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states:
The Holy See and the State of Palestine.

Orient VS Occident world (size, belief, custom, population)

"Orient" and "Occident" are named for their positions relative to one another—east and west, respectively.

If we assume the concept of economic development, modernity and wealth to the West, and that of
culture, traditions and local social values to the East.

We understand now that this designation reflects a Western European view of the "East," and not necessarily the views of the
inhabitants of these areas. We also realize today that the label of the “Orient” hardly captures the wide swath of territory to which
it originally referred: the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. These are at once distinct, contrasting, and yet interconnected
regions. Scholars often link visual examples of Orientalism alongside the Romantic literature and music of the early nineteenth
century, a period of rising imperialism and tourism when Western artists traveled widely to the Middle East, North Africa, and
Asia. We now understand that the world has been interconnected for much longer than we initially acknowledged and we can see
elements of Orientalist representation much earlier—for example, in religious objects of the Crusades, or Gentile Bellini’s
painting of the Ottoman sultan (ruler) Mehmed II (above), or in the arabesques (flowing s-shaped ornamental forms) of early
modern textiles.

Orient (East) Occident (West)

Asia + East Europe Europe
Word refers to Where the sun rises Where the sun sets
Countries 48 countries in Asia and 3 dependent territories 68 countries.
(Taiwan, Hongkong, Macao) Canada, United States, Brazil, Mexico, German,
Mainly Asia: Japan, China, Hongkong, Taiwan, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Columbia, Spain
India, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal and most of Russia.
Population 1,546,639,087
Description Orient has been used by western authors, to refer to  “Western” are used today to describe a different
peoples and cultures that were distinct from reality from the past. The superiority of Western
 occidental or western peoples and cultures. The word
oriental represents exotic and mysterious aspects of
the cultures and peoples who were different in looks
and mannerisms from the western people.
Concepts Culture, traditions and local social values. Cultural
and ideological geographic area – with ethnic and
racial religions (Islamic, Hindu, Confucian, Shintoist,
etc.), institutions, vocabulary, scholarships, images,
doctrines and bureaucracies.
Cultural Eastern culture has developed many themes and
Definition traditions.
Political Influenced the development of literacy, theory,
Definition cultural criticism.
Economic
Definition
culture, emphasizes by an obvious scientific and
technological advance for more than four centuries,
added other features to the region such
as development, wealth and modernity. Which
implies a modern culture of consumption.
Economic development, wealth and modernity. Thus,
being less geographically, religiously and culturally
defined.
Refers to all of the countries shaped by Western
Christianity (Catholic and Protestant churches), have
similar cultural and ethical values, and use the Latin
alphabet.
The Latin West: A broad definition of the West is
all countries that were shaped historically by
Western Christianity – today’s Catholic and
Protestant churches. These countries use the Latin
alphabet and have similar cultural and ethical
values. They are not necessarily wealthy or
politically aligned, however. This is my favorite
definition, because I think it most accurately
shows the divide between different worldviews.
Known as the Cold War West. These countries had
democratic, capitalist governments after World War
II. The common defining factor in these countries is
against communism. They were referred to as “First
World Countries”. 
Influenced by the traditions of the Renaissance,
Protestant Reformation, Age of Enlightenment – and
shaped by the expansive colonialism of the 15th-20th
centuries.
These are the countries whose dominant culture is
European that were aligned against the USSR
during the Cold War. These countries had
democratic, capitalist governments after World
War II. They were not necessarily wealthy or even
politically aligned, besides being against
communism.
Known as the Rich West. A Western civilization
based on culture, religion (mainly the Catholic-
Protestant religion), its core values, its richness and
its specific customs. The Western Huntingtonian
civilization excludes the Christian Orthodox Eastern
countries, due to a low standard of living.
The Rich West consists of all European-settled
countries whose GDP per capita is over
US$10,000 (2016 World Bank estimate). This
takes away many Central and South American
countries that are not highly developed. On the
other hand, this definition includes former
communist countries like Poland and Latvia
whose economies have improved greatly in the

Captured by cultural acceptance. Orient has a
cultural-geographic load with distinctive landscapes
and social behaviors different from its own.
last generation.
The West is economically developed space with a
superior quality of life and no spatial constraint on
the Western hemisphere. It is a civilization-machine,
dominated by cold, mechanical and soulless
rationalism. Being a perceptual region, the West does
not have clearly defined geographic boundaries

Orient (Asia)
- The Orient is the Eastern part of the world.
- It includes many countries and regions like Japan, China, Korea, Hongkong, and Taiwan. Asia is a
much larger continent which includes places like India, Pakistan, Cambodia, Tibet, Nepal and most of
Russia.
- The word orient literally means to the east or things eastern. The word term was created by Europeans
to refer to people and areas in the east with reference to the location of Europe. The word refers to the
land of the rising sun. Since sun rises in the east, the word orient has come to represent east. Europeans
perceive this territory as "one of romanticism, exotic beings, obsessive landscapes and memories,
and remarkable experiences". The word oriental represents exotic and mysterious aspects of the
cultures and peoples who were different in looks and mannerisms from the western people.
- Orient has long been used by western authors, to refer to peoples and cultures that were distinct from
occidental or western peoples and cultures. Europeans were often curious about things coming from the
east such as spices and silk.
- For Europe, the Orient has a cultural-geographic load with distinctive landscapes and social
behaviors different from its own.
- The East expresses and represents that cultural and ideological geographic area - with ethnic and
racial religions (Islamic, Hindu, Confucian, Shintoist, etc.), institutions, vocabulary, scholarships,
images, doctrines and bureaucracies – some of them passing under European colonial auspices or
cultural dominance, and which, with the growing involvement of the United States at international level,
widened to the Eastern extremity of Asia.

- Unlike the West, which has migrated to the meaning of development, modernity and wealth, the Orient
has largely been captured by cultural acceptance.

- From an economic point of view, Japan is a Western state, but from a cultural point of view, it remains
an oriental country.

- The concept of culture, traditions and local social values refer to the East.
Occident (West)
- The Occident is the Western part of the world (Europe). The  Occident is a term that translates as
"sunset", means the west. Anyone at any point in the world can see that the sun always rises from the
east and sets in the west. It follows that the West is located somewhere, where the sun sets.

- The West has become a concept synonymous with the materialism of development, wealth and
modernity, thus being less geographically, religiously and culturally defined.

- "Occident" and "Western" are used today to describe a different reality from the past, which
necessarily implies a modern culture of consumption, based on economic development and wealth. 
- The West means a special culture, based on the emergence of Christianity. The Renaissance,
Protestant Reformation and Enlightenment are only a few cultural streams that gravitated around
Christianity and individualized Western culture, leading to advancements marking the European space
as the world's foremost area in economy, technology and military.
- The superiority of Western culture, emphasizes by an obvious scientific and technological advance for
more than four centuries, added other features to the region such as development, wealth and
modernity.
- A Western civilization based on culture, religion (mainly the Catholic-Protestant religion), its core
values, its richness and its specific customs. The Western Huntingtonian civilization excludes the
Christian Orthodox Eastern countries, due to a low standard of living.
- Moreover, the West is today an economically developed space with a superior quality of life and no
spatial constraint on the Western hemisphere. It is a civilization-machine, dominated by cold,
mechanical and soulless rationalism.
- it is clear that today the West, in terms of development, modernity and wealth, means more than Europe.
- It came to this situation where the West merged with the concept of Americanization. It has come to
such a situation where the West merged with the concept of Americanization. The United States, the
world's largest economy and only hyperpower, is the state that has moulded international institutions
and norms and assumed the role of world policeman and waged wars in the name of Western values,
democracy, liberalism and human rights.
- Cultural: From a cultural and sociological approach the Western world is defined as including all
cultures that are derived from and influenced by European cultures.
- Political: Countries of the Western world are generally considered to share certain fundamental political
ideologies, including those of liberal democracy, the rule of law, human rights, equality.
- Economic: The term “Western world” is sometimes interchangeably used with the term “First World”
or “Developed countries”.
- Taking European culture, very high human development and liberal democratic principles.

Eastern culture Western culture

Religion Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Shenism,
Taoism, and Islam are some common
religions practiced in the Eastern world.
The population in Eastern countries is
more traditional than people in the West
when we consider their clothing, rituals,
and so on. For example, Indians pay
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are
some common religions practiced in the
Western world.
The population in Western countries is
more liberal than those in the East. The
Westerners are more open and blunt. For
example, topics like sex or birth of a
 respect to their elders or parents by
touching their feet. East Asians bow as a
gesture of welcoming guests,
apologizing and expressing thank you.
People in the East are commonly
inflexible in their beliefs and ideologies.
They do not easily compromise nor
question the long practiced customs and
traditions.
Family In Eastern countries, elders are
considered as the leaders of the home
and children often refer their choices to
them and obey what they say. Important
decisions related to the children’s future
are normally made by the elders. And,
when parents grow old, the kids are
likely to take care of them.
Marriage Arranged marriages are common in the
Eastern countries. They are normally
arranged by the parents of the couple or
other elders. They believe in the concept
that love comes after marriage.
In the restaurant Talk loudly make everybody can listen
his talking.
With the waiting Would rather waiting in group
With the leader in the group The leader will have more power and
bigger than anothers.
child are openly discussed in Western
culture, whereas in the East, these topics
are still taboo.
People from the West are more open to
expressing their feelings. If they are
angry, they vent it out. But, people in the
east may hold it in for tact and good
manners.
Also, one’s own choice is given
preference over the family’s. A person
from the West is more flexible and free
to make decisions on his own, unlike
those in the East.
Arranged marriages are not at all
common in the West for they believe in
love as the basis for marriage.
The people from the West would like to
talk quietly.
Waiting as a line
The West think that everybody is equal.

Eastern world is comprised of nations in Asia including the Middle East whereas Western world refers to
North and South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. East and West may have myriad
differences based on culture and education. These differences can be noted for the most part in people’s
behavior and attitudes.
The major difference between eastern and western culture is that people in the east are more conservative
and traditional than the general population in the west.

The Eastern world, defined as "South Asia and beyond", consists of three overlapping cultural blocks:
East Asia, South East Asia, and. South Asia.
Notes:
Pakistan is considered to be a part of the Eastern world because culturally it is much more closer
to India (as evident by the same languages, racial features, etc as Northern India) than the Middle-
east. Going by religion alone is original work, as many sources say Pakistan is a part of the East.
If going by religion alone, Bangladesh should be a part of the Middle-east where it evidently isn't.
Indian civilisations, such as the Indus, have been classified as Indian. There are virtually no
Arabs or Persians in Pakistan which is a further reason as to why it cannot be a part of the Middle-
east.

Eastern Culture
 - The people in eastern countries are more traditional than people in the West when we consider their
rituals, customs, clothing, etc. For example, Indians pay respect to their elders by touching their
feet; East Asians use bows as greetings, apologizing and thanking. People in the East are rigid in
their ideologies and beliefs; they are often reluctant to challenge and question the long
practiced traditions and customs.
- In eastern countries, elders are considered as the head of the home and children respect and obey
them in all decisions. The important decisions regarding children’s future are usually taken by
elders. When parents grow old, the children are expected to look after them.
- Arranged marriages are a common phenomenon in eastern countries. They are usually arranged by
parents or elders. Factors like education, social status, and family background are considered in
these marriages. The concept that love comes after marriage is also promoted by these marriages.
Moreover, public displays of affection are often frowned upon in Eastern countries.

Western Culture
- Moreover, the individual is given preference over family, so a person has more freedom and power
to take decisions on his own, unlike those in the east. Therefore, concepts like arranged marriages
are not common in the west; they marry for love.

Eastern
Refers to countries in Asia and
Middle East.
Religions Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,
Jainism, Shenism, and Taoism
are some common religions in
these countries. Rituals and
customs of different
communities may also differ
according to these religions.
Views People are conservative and
traditional
Individual VS Family Easterners give more priority to
family and elders.
Freedom An individual’s freedom may be
restricted due to his close bonds
with family.
Expression People may express their
emotions in a subtle way.
People in the east might cover it
for the sake of diplomacy and
politeness.
Women Women may be expected to play
a traditional role
Western
Mainly refers to Europe and
North America.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
are some of the most common
religions practiced in the Western
world.
People are open-minded and
flexible. The westerns are more
open and forthright. For
example, topics such as the birth
of a child and sex are still taboo
in some eastern countries.
Westerners give preference to the
individual.
Westerners are relatively freer
than people in the east.
People in the west are more
open about their feelings. If they
are angry, they might express.
Westerns may also display their
feelings and emotions in public.
Women may have a better place
in society.
As a new person come to a group, from the west, they like to be unique and join slowly, but from the east,
this person just joins group directly.

With the thinking of the problems, people from the west think that they should solve the problems and
keep going, but people from the east would rather pass the problems and find another way to keep going.

A child from the west, always parents keep them, but in the east, all the family will keep the children
grow up.

With the traffic, people from the west take car mostly in past 50 years, but right now they would take
bicycle to protect environment. However, people from the east take bike in past 50 years because it's
cheap, right now they take cars because it can show themselves and be more comfortable.

People from the west would like to share their opinion and show them self, even they dont have that good
opinion, but people from the east would rather keep opinion in mind but share a super small part of them.

In the West, people would like to say what they think, but from the east, people would like to share what
they don't think., and still keep their real opinion in their mind.

In the west, people like to keep themselves in the power. with the way they thinking, people from the
west would say what they think directly, but the people from the east, will think "what if" first then figure
all the problems then talk.

People from the western world will use fox, knife and spoon, they always come with pasta, potatoes rice
and a lot of styles or come with nothing, they have salt and pepper on the table, they have their dishes
individually. People in the east mostly use chopsticks, coming with rice, they have soy sauce and vinegar
on the table. They will share together.

http://www.differencebetween.net/science/differences-between-eastern-and-western-philosophy/

 Eastern and Western cultures resemble each other in some notable aspects. The first similarity is
the adherence to religious beliefs. Both civilizations shape their lives according to their religious
beliefs. As an example, Christians living in the West go to the church every Sunday to pray. Likewise,
Muslims living in the East go to the mosque every Friday in the direction of their beliefs. In addition,
families living in the East and the West also nurture their children according to their religious beliefs
and enable them to transfer these beliefs to the next generation. Another similarity between two
civilizations is the way they communicate. In everyday speech, people use similar terms when
communicating with each other. People living on both sides share the expressions they want to
explain with each other by establishing similar sentences. Furthermore, both are also similar in
terms of commercial life. For instance, they have been developing banking systems in commercial
applications. That is why such applications as checks, credits, and guarantees give the commercial
life a substantial direction in both cultures.
   Despite these similarities, eastern and western cultures bear a few crucial differences as well. The
main difference between the East and the West is the geographical structure. Depending on the
landforms of the East and the West, their climates also vary from each other. Eastern countries
generally have a milder climate, whereas western countries have a colder climate. Another
difference is to do with their family structures. In Eastern culture, the concept of family is given more
importance than Western culture. While the thought of getting support from the family on any issue
is quite dominant in Eastern culture, more individual life style is seen in the West. For example, in
the West, when children reach the age of 18, their families are not obliged to look after them. Thus,
the people living in the West live a more independent life away from their family. Besides, the
educational system between two civilizations show great differences. Eastern countries have
implemented an education system based on traditions and customs, whereas the Western
educational system is open to innovations. Therefore, Western countries use scientific and
technological developments in their education systems. In brief, these cultural features make these
civilizations different from one another.

Information asymmetry
Doctors (suppliers) know more about illness and treatments than their patients. Patients depend
on the doctor to act in their best interest, but there is a conflict of interest because the doctor is
selling a service to the patient. The doctor is in a position to determine demand for the service
(acting on behalf of the patient, presumably for the patient’s welfare) and the doctor is also the
supplier of the services. In this case demand and supply are jointly determined by the same
individual at the same time which can result in market failure. For example, if the doctor is
driven by the profit motive, or is seeking higher income, the doctor might order more services
than necessary (e.g. if he/she owns a laboratory or imaging equipment). This market failure is
termed “supplier induced demand”. 

Health care as a product or service is not consumed because it provides a consumer with
satisfaction (it might even be unpleasant or painful), but because the individual wants to retain
good health. The demand for health care is derived from an individual’s wish to regain good
health. The qualities of the product (health) make it difficult for markets to meet the ideal market
conditions. Health is not a marketable product, that is, it cannot be exchanged between
consumers. Since demand for health care is derived from the demand for health, the non-
marketability of health reduces the power of market forces (demand and supply) to determine
prices and quantities. Consequently the ability of the market to determine resource allocation is
greatly reduced.

Adverse selection
Individuals in poor health have a greater incentive to purchase health insurance than those in
good health. Individuals in poor health make greater utilisation of health care than the healthy,
leading to higher payouts by the insurance company. To avoid incurring losses, insurance
companies might raise premiums. Higher premiums will further discourage healthy individuals
from purchasing health insurance so that only the very ill buy insurance leading to losses by
insurance companies and eventually this might mean the demise of a market.12 This market
failure can be corrected by universal coverage, i.e. everyone buys coverage so that insurance
companies have a pooled risk which on the average is lower than the risk from covering only the
very ill. The other solution is screening and experience rating that allows insurance companies to
change different premiums according to risk levels.13 Studies indicate huge welfare losses due to
adverse selection.14

Moral hazard
- Individuals covered by insurance tend to use more health care and they might not take
necessary precautions to stay healthy because they know they have insurance coverage. This
leads to inefficient use of resources. Insurance companies try to correct this by employing gate-
keepers who monitor and restrict health care access and by charging co-payments and
deductibles. Unfortunately, these are applied to everyone including those not overusing services,
which make these solutions inefficient.

Externalities
Externalities are spill-over effects of consumption or production. Positive externalities occur
when the actions of one individual result in a spill-over that improves the well being of another
individual and negative externalities impose a cost on another individual. Smoking is an example
of a negative consumption externality because one individual’s consumption (smoking) affects
other people’s health negatively (effects of second-hand smoke). An example of a positive
externality is immunisation. If some individuals are immunised they provide “herd immunity” in
the sense that they do not get the illness therefore they do not pass it on to others. Their
immunisation provides a benefit to others—a positive externality.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3210041/

The model of supply and demand is the basis of the ideal, free market. According to this
model, buyers are good judges of what they receive from sellers, and pay them directly
for the goods and services being exchanged. Most importantly, the “invisible hand” (left
to its own devices) leads to efficient allocation of resources (1). This model offers a
reasonably good description for many goods and services in the economy. However, the
healthcare market is unique and deviates from this standard model in quite a few ways.
Examining the special features of this market is a good starting point for understanding
why the government plays a large role in the provision of healthcare and why health
policy is often complex and vexing.

The prevalence of externalities is one of the key features that differentiates the
healthcare market from the concept of the ideal market (1). An externality arises when a
person engages in an activity that influences the well-being of a bystander who neither
pays nor receives compensation for that effect (1).  If the impact on the bystander is
adverse, it is called a negative externality. If it is beneficial, it is called a positive
externality. Because buyers and sellers neglect the external effects of their actions
when deciding how much to demand or supply, externalities can render the unregulated
market outcome inefficient (2). This general conclusion is crucial for understanding
healthcare, because externalities in the market are so prevalent. The existence of
externalities requires governmental intervention to remedy the market failure (1). For
example, consider the positive externality associated with vaccinations – that is,
vaccinations reduce the likelihood of becoming a carrier, which makes it less likely that
other people will become ill. In the case of immunization, fewer people will choose to
get vaccinated if they ignore the added value created by positive externalities when
performing a cost-benefit analysis. The government may remedy this problem by
subsidizing the development, manufacture, and distribution of vaccines or by requiring
vaccinations (1).

In most markets, consumers know what they want, and can judge whether or not they
are happy with the result of a transaction (1). This is not the case in healthcare,
primarily due to the information asymmetry between doctors and patients. Doctors
(suppliers) know more about illnesses and treatments than their patients. Consequently,
patients depend on doctors to act in their best interest; however, because doctors sell
services, from which they stand to profit, there is a conflict of interest (2). The For
example, the government requires physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health
professionals to have licenses to practice. Similarly, the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) oversees the testing and release of new pharmaceutical drugs to make sure they
are safe and effective. In addition to government regulation, the medical profession
monitors itself by accrediting medical schools, promoting best practices, and
establishing professional norms of behavior (1).

Another unique feature of healthcare markets is the existence of the insurance market
and its imperfections. The first problem that impedes the operation of insurance
markets is moral hazard: when people have insurance to cover their spending on
healthcare, they have less incentive to engage in behavior that will keep that spending to
a reasonable level. Similarly, physicians may be more likely to order tests of dubious
value when they know an insurance company is picking up the tab (1). Insurance
companies try to correct this by employing gate-keepers who monitor and restrict health
care access and by charging co-payments and deductibles. However, these are applied
to everyone including those not overusing services, which can make these solutions
inefficient (2). The second problem that impedes the operation of insurance markets is
adverse selection. Individuals in poor health have a greater incentive to purchase health
insurance than those in good health. Individuals in poor health make greater utilization
of health care than the healthy, leading to higher payouts by the insurance company. To
avoid incurring losses, insurance companies might raise premiums. Higher premiums
will further discourage healthy individuals from purchasing health insurance so that only
the very ill buy insurance, creating a vicious cycle that may collapse the market. This
market failure can be corrected by universal coverage, i.e. everyone buys coverage so
that insurance companies have a pooled risk which on the average is lower than the risk
from covering only the very ill. An example of this is the Affordable Care Act, which was
created primarily to deal with the problem of adverse selection (1).

Ultimately, the importance of health insurance requires that the market for healthcare
work differently than most other markets in the economy. In the healthcare market, the
provider (the seller of medical services) is not paid directly by the patient (the buyer).
Instead, the patient pays money to an insurer in the form of either a premium (if the
insurer is a private company) or taxes (if the insurer is the government). The insurer
uses this money to compensate the provider, who in turn provides medical services to
the patient. This process requires three sets of rules to guide behavior (1).

The first set determines the financing—that is, who pays for the insurance and how
much they pay. If the insurer is the government, then paying for healthcare becomes
part of designing the tax system. If the insurer is a private company, healthcare is
financed by the price that health insurance purchasers pay for their coverage. The price
is set in the insurance market, which (like other markets) bases price on costs. The
second set of rules determines a patient’s access to healthcare (1). These rules ration
the use of medical services based on estimated costs and benefits. For example, a
patient may be able to get a routine check-up no more than once a year, may have
access to only a limited number of doctors, or may need a referral from a general
practitioner before making an appointment with a more expensive specialist. Last but
not least, the third set of rules determines the payments from insurers to providers (1).
These rules establish both what an insurer will pay for and how much they will pay.
Treatment prices influence which treatments providers guide patients toward. Insurers
may deem some treatments too expensive, too experimental, or insufficiently valuable
to pay for them at all. In such cases, providers will often not offer patients the services.
Sometimes, however, providers will offer the services only if the patient pays the full
cost of the treatment (as is often true with cosmetic procedures). In this case, the
market for healthcare reverts the more typical market (1).

1. Third parties—insurers, governments, and unwitting bystanders—often have an interest in healthcare

outcomes.

2. Patients often don’t know what they need and cannot evaluate the treatment they are getting.

3. Healthcare providers are often paid not by the patients but by private or government health insurance.
 4. The rules established by these insurers, more than market prices, determine the allocation of resources.

5. In light of the foregoing four points, the invisible hand can’t work its magic, and so the allocation of
resources in the healthcare market can end up highly inefficient.

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mankiw/files/economics_of_healthcare.pdf