Perspectives on the Economics and Sociology of Health: Contributions from the Institutionalist Approach of Economics of Convention - An Introduction

Abstract

This article introduces the approach of economics and sociology of conventions (in short EC) as a neopragmatist institutionalism in the field of economics and sociology of health. For EC, conventions are regarded as institutional logics of valuation, valorization, and coordination, and EC emphasizes the empirical plurality of orders of worth and values actors rely on and institutions are built on. In particular, health, health care, and its institutions are closely linked to value issues and norms. Because of the pluralism of possible value systems and orders of worth, tensions and critiques are an important empirical phenomenon to be addressed in the health care system. The contribution sketches main positions and perspectives of EC in the analysis of values, medical professions, and ethics of datafication, quantification, classification (related to health and health care institutions), and of social inequalities as well as in the analysis of health policies and health capitalism. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences are discussed from the standpoint of EC and, finally, social trends and perspectives in times of the pandemic are outlined.