Amitabh Chandra
National Bureau of Economic Research, John F. Kennedy University
Papers
2
Total Citations
49
H-Index
2
About
Amitabh Chandra is a leading health economist whose research dissects the productivity, equity, and efficiency of the U.S. healthcare system. His work fundamentally challenges the assumption that higher healthcare spending translates to better health outcomes. In his highly influential paper, “Saving Money or Just Saving Lives? Improving the Productivity of US Health Care Spending” (31 citations), Chandra argues that the core problem is not the level of spending, but its misallocation, identifying vast opportunities to improve value without sacrificing quality. He has also made pivotal contributions to understanding the diffusion of medical technology, as seen in his study on “Robot-Assisted Surgery For Kidney Cancer” (18 citations), which revealed that the adoption of expensive robotic systems increased access to surgery but was not linked to improved long-term patient outcomes. This work highlights how financial incentives can drive technology uptake with uncertain clinical benefit. A Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Chandra is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His incisive, data-driven analyses have shaped policy debates on Medicare, health disparities, and the economics of innovation, making him a vital voice for evidence-based healthcare reform.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2