Gary Becker’s contribution to the field of health economics started somewhat
indirectly. The early developments in human capital theory, to which Becker was one of
the main contributors, had obvious implications to the economic analysis of expenditures
on health, but were almost exclusively focused on schooling and training (Schultz, 1960;
Becker, 1962 and 1964). Human capital theory advanced the idea that actions that imply
present costs but enhanced individual productivity in the future could be seen as
investments in a form of capital. Expenditures in health had many dimensions where such
trade-offs were present. A good diet or exercising might not be very much fun, but
potentially delivered long term benefits in the form of a longer and healthier life.
Preventive medical care demanded time and money, but might also improve future health
prospects. This was recognized early on, and a paper on health was even included in the
1961 conference organized by Theodore Schultz and Gary Becker that laid much of the
groundwork for later developments in human capital theory (Mushkin, 1962). But the
early explorations of health as human capital were somewhat timid conceptually and did
not give the field a push that remotely resembled that received by the economic research
on education. For the years that followed, health economics persisted mostly as a field
dealing with the analysis of health systems and delivery of health technologies.