Health Policy and Health Economics/ Informal Payments for healthcare in Eastern Europe

The study will aim to better understand the drivers and determinants of informal payments for health care across post-communist countries and especially on the Balkans. In order to achieve this, the thesis will firstly consider supply-side characteristics such as the role of pro-social and esteem preferences and the propensity to demand or accept informal payments. Furthermore, it will consider the importance of market characteristics such as spatial agglomeration and competition in order to assess the appropriateness of current policy instruments used in the health system and overall public administration in order to address the persistence of informal payments.