D8 - Information, Knowledge, and UncertaintyReturn

The aim of the article is to explore the doctor - patient relationship using the information asymmetry framework and principal-agent theory. From the perspective of economic exchange, this relationship is relatively specific, as an uneven rank and position of the agents involved play an important role here. It is argued that this unevenness arises from several different factors, such as education and qualification, work experience, path dependence, and the nature of goods and services provided. The relationship specificity is then discussed from a theoretical point of view while its most important elements are highlighted and put into a wider context. Further, market approach in healthcare system and healthcare services is partially debated and a simple model analyzing he "double-standard treatment is developed. Subsequently, this type of treatment is analyzed with the aid of vertical differentiation approach. Based on economic rationale, the authors claim that "medical knowledge/information obligation should play a crucial role in all healthcare services. This type of instrument is to be applicable for both parties in the doctor - patient relationship, as it may help overcome the inherently present information asymmetry by rendering the healthcare services provision more transparent.

What is the role of entrepreneurship in economic development from the perspective of neo-Austrian and new institutional economics and what is the difference between these approaches? Neo-Austrian economists claim that economic development is caused by entrepreneurial discovery. New institutional economists argue that structure of incentives determined by the institutional environment provides a guideline for entrepreneurial decision-making. Hence, an institutional environment that rewards rent-seeking does not provide opportunities for economic development. In this paper we offer a comparison of these approaches to show that both entrepreneurial discovery and institutional environment are closely related. Moreover, with the comparison we demonstrate that entrepreneurial decision-making plays more important role in economic development when an institutional change is taken into account.

The aim of the paper is to introduce Kirzner's theory of entrepreneurial discovery as a complement and an alternative to the mainstream theory. In the first and the second sections, the author explains the main influences of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich August von Hayek's works on entrepreneurial theory. Section three analyzes pure entrepreneurial profit and logical construction of theory as a complement to mainstream theory. To introduce the entrepreneurial market process as an alternative to mainstream theory, the fourth section begins by explaining Kirzner's approach to the critique of the possibilities for economic calculation in the system of public ownership of the means of production and his theory of monopoly. The last section is a conclusion.