Medicine and Economic Knowledge: The Relevance of Career in the Study of Transformations in the Healthcare System

Abstract

This contribution highlights the relevance of biographical research for the economic sociology of the healthcare system. In particular, the economy of conventions could be enriched by an approach that is suitable for studying the actors of economic coordination as well as for analyzing the significance of economic knowledge within the framework of specific conventions. This contribution is based on an exploratory study on the economization of the healthcare system in Switzerland. Biographical interviews were conducted with 14 influential experts and senior managers. The careers of four physicians with a strong vocation to influence the public healthcare system are presented. In the concluding discussion, the findings are compared with economic sociology research on the healthcare system in the US and France. The conclusion states that the biographical perspective brings additional aspects into light that are not taken into account by more traditional concepts and methods of economic sociology.