April Harding

Visiting Fellow
aharding@cgdev.org

Expertise

Health systems analysis and development; governance; private health sector

Initiative

Education

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania; B.A. University of Kentucky

Background

April Harding is an economist and health systems specialist who joined CGD from the Human Development department in the Latin America and Caribbean region of the World Bank. For the past 8 years she's been leading the Bank's work related to public policy toward the private health sector. April also has worked a great deal on hospital reform and governance of health services in developing and transition countries. Before she shifted her focus to health systems, April worked for 7 years on private sector development and privatization in transition economies. This work included advice and technical assistance to governments in more than 13 countries, including advising the Polish and Russian governments on privatization in the early 1990s. Prior to her work at the World Bank, April was a Research Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. During her time at CGD, April will be writing a book on how policy toward the private health sector can be improved to enhance the private sector contribution to public policy goals.

Non-CGD Publications

"Buying Results: A Review of Developing Countries Experience of Contracting for Health Service Delivery" (w/ B Loevinsohn), The Lancet. Vol. 366. August 2005. (pdf)

"Can Developing Countries further Improve Child Health Outcomes without Engaging the Private Sector?"(with H Axelsson and F Bustreo), Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Vol. 81, 2003. (pdf)

Private Participation in Health Services (with AS Preker), World Bank, 2003.

"The Economics of Hospital Reform: From Hierarchical to Market- based Incentives," World Hospitals and Health Services, Vol. 39, 2003.Innovations in Health Service Delivery: The Corporatization of Public Hospitals. (with AS Preker), World Bank, 2003.

"The Introduction of Market Forces in the Public Hospital Sector: From New Public Management to Organizational Reform," (with M Jakab, AS Preker and L Hawkins), HNP Discussion Paper Series. Washington, 2002.

"Linking Organizational Structure to the External Environment: Experiences from Hospital Reform in Transition Economies," In M McKee and J Healy, Hospitals in a Changing Europe. (with M Jakab and AS Preker). Buckingham: Open University Press, 2002. (pdf)

"Hospital Organizational Structure in Transition Economies: Incoherent Internal and External Incentive Environments," Proceedings, International Conference on Systems Science in Health Care. (with M Jakab and AS Preker). 2000.

"Make or Buy Decision in the Production of Health Care Goods and Services: New Insights from Institutional Economics and Organization Theory" Bulletin of the World Health Organization. (with AS Preker and P Travis). Vol. 78, 2000.

"The Economics of Public and Private Roles in Health Care: New Insights from Institutional Economics" (with N Girishankar and AS Preker). Departmental Working Paper #21874. The World Bank, Washington DC. 1999.