Three essays in health econometrics and health economics

This dissertation makes contributions to the field of health econometrics as well as the field of health economics. Chapter II presents a review of the "Cake Debates" literature. I also describe a generic econometric framework, which I use to clarify some points of controversy in the literature. Extant approaches to endogeneity in two-part models have failed to consider "separability." Chapter III presents a novel estimator that accounts for endogeneity without imposing "separability." Chapter IV presents a mediation analysis that explores whether improvements in beneficiary health can explain the negative relationship between Medicare Part D and the use of hospital care.