Demand for Health — Health Stock Explorer
Explore how an illustrative stock of health changes when depreciation is offset by healthcare-related inputs and personal time or behaviour. The exercise shows why health is the valued outcome while healthcare is only one possible input.
Change the illustrative inputs
Values are synthetic health units, not clinical scores or treatment-effect estimates.
Follow the health-stock transition
The accounting equation separates deterioration from new health investment. It does not decide whether the selected investment is optimal or affordable.
Equivalent calculation table
The table exposes every quantity used in the result so the interaction remains understandable without relying on the diagram or colour.
| Calculation component | Value | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Starting health stock, Ht | 100 | Illustrative stock entering the period |
| Depreciation loss, δHt | 8 | Illustrative health lost during the period |
| Retained stock, (1 − δ)Ht | 92 | Stock remaining before new investment |
| Healthcare-related contribution | 5 | One possible input into health investment |
| Time and behaviour contribution | 7 | Other possible inputs into health investment |
| Gross health investment, It | 12 | Combined contribution from the displayed inputs |
| Next-period health stock, Ht+1 | 104 | Retained stock plus gross investment |
Method, assumptions and limitations
The explorer implements the simplified stock equation Ht+1 = (1 − δ)Ht + It. Gross investment is the sum of the two displayed synthetic contributions; the tool does not estimate a clinical production function or attach monetary and time costs to those contributions.
- All health-stock and investment values are illustrative units with no clinical interpretation.
- The displayed input contributions are assumed to be additive and certain solely to demonstrate the accounting relationship.
- The explorer does not model prices, insurance, income, access, uncertainty, provider influence, equity or the opportunity cost of personal time.
- A higher next-period stock does not establish that the selected inputs are efficient, affordable, feasible or optimal.
- Real health is multidimensional and cannot ordinarily be represented by one directly observed capital-stock measure.