Our latest publication The Political Economy of the Hospital in History (Eds. Martin Gorsky, Margarita Vilar-Rodríguez and Jerònia Pons-Pons) examines the history of the hospital across different countries and times.

As the healthcare sector has grown and developed so its costs have risen, with hospitals playing an essential role in healthcare and promoting economic activities and employment. Hospitals are “at once the site of healing, the locus of medical learning and a cornerstone of the welfare state”, and this book explores their various social and economic roles, as well as the political decisions that underlay their expansion.

Whilst previous publications have been single hospital studies or have lacked the comparative range for a systematic, in-depth review, The Political Economy examines the growth of hospital systems.  It compares case studies drawn from Europe to the Americas and Asia to give a global reach. It focuses mainly on developments in the twentieth century, whilst also discussing how earlier events or factors may have laid the groundwork and shaped these.

This publication also sheds light on the balance between the private and public sector in a range of settings and countries, compares organisations and hospital systems and investigates why and how the healthcare sector -and with it the welfare state- was transformed over the years.

Read or download it on our website and make sure to keep an eye out for new publications!

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