This book uses an economic approach to analyze the socioeconomic causes and consequences of mental health disorders in China, with a special focus on mental depression. Based on a nationally representative dataset, we first investigate the prevalence and distribution of depression and depressive symptoms among China’s adult population, and then use several econometric methods to estimate the multi-dimensional disease burden of the mental disorder, such as its direct medical costs, its indirect economic costs, and its hidden costs on social trust and life satisfaction. In addition, we specifically address the socioeconomic determinants of mental health by examining how the relative and absolute economic status may determine people’s mental depression. Lastly, we propose an analytical framework to evaluate the four major hurdles that cause the treatment gaps of mental health care, and discuss the policy options to overcome such hurdles and to address the unmet mental healthcare needs in China and other developing countries. The book may facilitate our understanding on the complex determinants and implications of the rising prevalence of mental health disorders in developing countries like China. In addition to the students, teachers, and researchers in the fields of health economics and public health, the book may also be of interest to health policy makers and non-government agencies who are concerned with addressing the global mental healthcare challenges using economic policy tools.
Introduction.- The Prevalence of Depression and Depressive
Symptoms.- Depression Hurts, Depression Costs.
Xuezheng Qin is a professor of economics at Peking University, where he serves as the deputy dean of the School of Economics and the Institute for Global Health and Development. His research interests include health economics, economics of human capital, and applied econometrics. Professor Qins research is funded by national and international agencies such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the International Development Research Center in Canada. He has published more than 70 academic papers in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Comparative Economics, Health Economics, and Health Policy and Planning. He is also the author of several books, including Applied Econometrics with Eviews and SAS Examples (2016), Migrant Workers in Chinas New Health Insurance System (2017), and Intergenerational Human Capital Transmission and Its Impact on Economic Growth (2023). Professor Qin serves as an associate editor for China & World Economy,and a guest editor for several journals including China Economic Review, Inquiry, and Emerging Markets Finance and Trade. He was elected as the president of China Labor Economist Forum and a Distinguished Professor of Beijing Higher Education, and has gained other recognitions for his research and teaching. Chee-Ruey Hsieh is a retired scholar and now serves as an independent researcher for public policies, including health care, long-term care and pension system. Before his retirement, he had appointment in several prestige universities and research institutes, including the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (2017-2020), Duke University and Duke Kunshan University (2014-17), and the Institute of Economics, Academia Sinca, Taiwan (1990-2014). He received his Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt University in 1990. Since then, health economics has become the central focus of his research career. His past research has covered several diversified areas in the field of health economics and applied microeconomics, including medical malpractice, the economics of health behavior, the demand for medical care, the determinants of health, health insurance, healthcare expenditure, the labor supply of physicians and nurses, physician incentives, hospital competition, and the economics of the pharmaceutical industry. He is the co-editor of three previous books on the economics of health care. He is also the co-author of the textbook on health economics published by MIT Press.
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