2 September 2015

Call for papers: "The Demand and Supply of Healthcare in China"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management.

During the last three decades, the People’s Republic of China has experienced exceptional growth and industrial development. This uninterrupted process has created a substantial increase in personal incomes in most parts of the country. Incomes, standards of living and expectations have risen so much that there is now a substantial (middle) class of people with discretionary incomes and tastes that extend well beyond the historic needs of subsistence. This population seeks a higher quality of life with access to improved consumer goods and services that are more consistent with those of wealthy countries in Europe and the United States.
 
The capability of meeting these expectations is the crucial challenge for China today. In fact, it is likely that the sustainability of the entire economic, social and political system is dependent on the economy’s ability to satisfy these emerging demands. Political leaders and local and central government authorities seem well aware of this challenge. The exchange between legitimisation and consensus requires better education, better housing, better urban quality, better environment…and better healthcare.
 
To understand the implications of these trends, we are looking for interdisciplinary contributions that shed light on the current status of the Chinese healthcare industry and delivery system. We seek papers that offer original ideas concerning both the demand and supply of healthcare in China. We seek studies at both national and territorial levels and also at the sector level, including studies that focus on important industries such as pharmaceuticals or biotech. We are interested in manuscripts estimating the Chinese population’s health status and looking at social and territorial disparities. We also encourage papers providing original and rigorous analysis of the traditional Chinese medicine industry. Finally, we also welcome analyses of the penetration of Western Medicine into China. Papers must be analytical (rather than descriptive) and methodologically rigorous.
 
The papers will be of great interest to academics, policy makers and industrialists in both China and the United States and Europe who are either involved in healthcare, or are contemplating becoming so.
 
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Estimates of the changing demand for healthcare in China
  • The supply of healthcare in China, such as hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, private and public providers
  • The health industry in China: main actors, organisation and performance
  • Government policy for the promotion of the health industry in China
  • The pharmaceutical and biotech industries in China
  • Western medicine in China: production and consumption
  • Use of Western healthcare inputs in China (including drugs, devices and diagnostic equipment)
  • The traditional Chinese medicine industry
  • Barriers to entry in the Chinese healthcare market
  • Opportunities for the European and American health industries to help address unmet needs in China
  • Opportunities for the Chinese health industry in Europe and the US
  • Health status in China: social and territorial disparities
  • Financing health in China: public and private actors
 
Important Dates
Submission of letter of intent to contribute, including a 100-200 word abstract of the proposed paper (by email): 31 October, 2015
Submission of manuscripts (online): 31 January, 2016
Notification to authors: 31 March, 2016
Final versions due: 31 May, 2016
Submission of completed manuscripts: 30 June, 2016

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