Behavioral economics in the analysis of health economics

Since the 2000s, the application of Behavioral Economics has grown in Health Economics studies. There is, however, little information about how Health Economics publications have been used Behavioral Economics and, consequently, what is perceived as the “vanguard” and the interrelationship between these two areas more promising. This study seeks to establish the state of the art and how the discussion related to Behavioral Economics and Health Economics has evolved. Through bibliometric analysis employing the SCOPUS platform, we analyzed 1736 articles and identified a predominance of researchers with degrees in Health. The most-cited journals were in Economics, which provides the theoretical basis for the analyzed articles. Four groupings were found in terms of the subjects of interest, named following their predominant subjects: Concepts, Topics, and Methods of Behavioral Health Economics; Temporal Preferences and Addiction; Public Health Rationality; Health Behavior Changes. The most utilized concepts are associated with Prospect Theory and temporal preferences, on which the article presents a brief discussion. The great interest in Behavioral Economics’ perspective as a contribution to public health policies is highlighted based on some public health challenges.