Essays on the Economics of Scale and Complexity in Healthcare

This dissertation investigates the economics of scale and complexity in healthcare. Chapter one provides an overview of the dissertation. Chapter two measures trade and economies of scale in healthcare, and considers the implications for rural healthcare policy. Chapter three finds medical knowledge growth causes some oncologists to become more specialized, leading to growing economies of scale in healthcare. Chapter four explores the trade-off between accuracy and interpretability in the use of machine learning in formula-driven healthcare policy.