Awards

• This award is intended for early career researchers (ECRs)/recent graduates, not those currently studying. Students are encouraged to submit an entry for the annual IHEA Student Paper Prize.
• To be considered for the Adam Wagstaff Award, the ECR must have an abstract accepted for oral presentation at the IHEA congress. You must indicate your interest in being considered for this award during the abstract submission process.
• The paper must focus on the economics of healthcare financing or delivery in a LMIC (this can include a country defined by the World Bank as a middle-income country until not more than a year ago, that is now classified as a high-income country). The research should be policy-relevant in that it should provide insights into how to improve healthcare financing or delivery. Papers with an equity focus are encouraged.
• The first author of the paper (or corresponding author where authors are listed alphabetically) and presenter at the congress must be a citizen of a LMIC (using the World Bank country income classification). Co-authors on the paper are not restricted to LMIC citizens.
• The main author and presenter at the congress must have submitted their doctorate or have completed their doctorate within the last 7 full-time equivalent years.
• To be considered for the award, a full paper must be available three months before the congress and be submitted with a personal statement of 500 words outlining your future career plans at the time of application.
• Submitters should be willing to commit to contributing to health economics in LMICs if they win this award. This could take the form of mentoring researchers with very limited experience, co-supervising a (post-)graduate student, serving on the Award Committee in future, or related activity, depending on the skills and preferences of the Awardee.

Can I submit a paper that analyses global data, so includes low-, middle- and high-income countries?  No, only papers that have a specific focus on LMICs will be considered.

Can a paper that considers theoretical or methodological issues be submitted?  Usually not, unless there is a very specific focus on LMICs (e.g. development of an innovative methodology for health care financing or delivery research to address data constraints in LMICs).

Can an economic evaluation paper be submitted?  Generally not. As the focus of the award is on the economics of health care financing or delivery, only economic evaluations that compare alternative service delivery options and/or include a budget impact analysis of services that address a major burden of disease in LMICs will be considered. Papers that focus purely on the effectiveness of health care interventions or an economic evaluation of a very specific clinical intervention are not eligible.

If I graduated 8 or 9 years ago, but had maternity leave and worked part-time for a year afterwards, will my paper be considered?  Yes, as long as the full-time equivalent working period after graduation is no longer than 7 years at the time of application.

If I am a citizen of a LMIC, but am currently living and working in a high-income country, will my paper be considered?  Yes, as long as the paper focuses on LMICs and your intention is to continue undertaking research focused on LMICs.

Those from a low- or middle-income country with an accepted abstract, on the economics of healthcare financing or delivery in a LMIC, for the next IHEA congress will be invited to submit a full paper for review by the selection committee three months prior to the congress. The selection criteria are comparable to those used for the Arrow Award and the Student Prize, which focus on the importance of the contribution of the paper and appropriateness and innovation in methodology.

The award includes a certificate and a cash prize, which will be presented during one of the plenary sessions of the congress. The session in which the award-winning paper is presented will be highlighted as a special session and the presentation will be followed by discussant input. In addition, the winner will be invited to present at the World Bank’s Health Finance Forum.

Members of the initial Award Committee were selected to include at least one close colleague of Adam’s from long-term collaborative research projects; at least one of Adam’s colleagues from the World Bank with expertise in this sub-field; and at least one researcher with expertise in the sub-field who is based in or affiliated with a LMIC institution. The Committee members, in alphabetical order, are:

Augustine Asante, University of New South Wales and Centre for Health Financing and Systems Innovation Africa

Edwine Barasa, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme

Damien de Walque, World Bank

Eeshani Kandpal, Center for Global Development

Hong Liu, Renmin University of China

Anne Mills, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Owen O’Donnell, Erasmus University

Rudi Rocha, São Paulo School of Business Administration

Aparnaa Somanathan, World Bank

Winnie Yip, Harvard University

Funds raised through ‘Friends of Adam’ crowdfunding are ring-fenced for this award, with auditing and IHEA Board oversight of revenue and expenditure as for all IHEA finances. In addition, there will be biennial reporting to the Award selection committee for additional oversight.

We would like to acknowledge the generous contributions of the following individuals and groups, as well as several anonymous contributors, towards this Award:

Ronald Akehurst, Sarah Alkenbrack, Elaine Baruwa, Marcel Bilger, Caryn Bredenkamp, Terkel Christiansen, Jorge Coarasa, Daniel Cotlear, Agnes Couffinhal, Damien de Walque, Tim Ensor, Patrick Eozenou, Tim Evans, Deon Filmer, Emanuela Galasso, John Giles, Karen Grépin, Mutsa Gumbi, Reem Hafez, Emmanuel Jimenez, Andrew Jones, Eeshani Kandpal, Beth & Mead King Over, Felicia Knaul, Joseph Kutzin, Soonman Kwon, Gabriel Leung, Elisa Liberatori Prati, Jui-fen Rachel Lu, Di McIntyre, David McKenzie, Owen O’Donnell, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Kjeld Pedersen, Eugenio Prati, Stella Quimbo, Marisol Rodriguez, Miriam Schneidman, Gil Shapira, Richard Smith, Peter Smith, Sally Stearns, Sandy Tubeuf, UPSE Health Econ Lab, Eddy Van Doorslaer, Tom Van Ourti, Marcos Vera-Hernandez, Michael Woolcock, Vasoontara, Yiengprugsawan, and Winnie Yip

• Applicants must currently be studying (full- or part-time) at a higher education institution, at either Masters or Doctoral level. In addition, students who completed their studies in the year previous to the call for submissions qualify, as long as the paper was written while registered as a student.
• Papers can be published or unpublished, but must be in comparable format to a published paper in Journal of Health Economics or Health Economics, of maximum length 8,000 words (excluding abstract, tables, figures, references and any appendices). 
• Papers should be in English.
• A cover letter is required, signed by the student’s supervisor, confirming that the student’s contribution is at least 75% and outlining the nature of the student’s contribution and that of any co-authors  (conceptualization, analysis, writing etc.).
• Previous winners are not eligible.

The Prize will be complimentary registration for the next IHEA Congress to present the paper in a Student Prize Special Organised Session, a cash prize and the offer (if the author wishes, and the paper is unpublished) of potential fast track publication in Health Economics, subject to Editorial approval.

The papers in 2nd and 3rd place will receive a small cash prize and complimentary registration for the next IHEA Congress. They will be invited to give brief presentations at the IHEA Congress Student Prize Special Organized Session. All prize winners will also receive a certificate.

Chair: Tinna Ásgeirsdóttir, University of Iceland

Co-Chair: Shiko Maruyama, Jinan University, Guangzhou

Mehdi Ammi, Carleton University

Ronelle Burger, Stellenbosch University

Michal Horný, Emory University

Brenda Gannon, University of Queensland

Flavia Mori Sarti, University of São Paulo

Jacob Novignon, Kwame Nkrumah University

Alfredo Paloyo, University of Wollongong

May Ee Png, Oxford University

Timothy Powell-Jackson, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Peter Sivey, University of York

Sally Stearns, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Raf van Gestel, Erasmus University