Slightly Worse But Much Cheaper: The Role of Social Norms and Repugnance in Shaping the Direction of Innovation in Healthcare.

I plan to use my time at Foundation Brocher to examine the role of ethics and social repugnance in inhibiting "slightly worse but much cheaper" innovations in healthcare.  My objectives are threefold: to understand the source of the powerful social aversions to SWMC technologies; to analyze the mechanisms by which these aversions constrain the implementation of disruptive innovations in healthcare; and to trace out the implications of this perspective for public policy.  I expect to produce a book chapter on each of these issues.