IMPACTS OF THE BRITISH NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY*

This paper tests for possible effects of the implementation of the British National Health Service (NHS) upon the health of the British population. Although analysis does reveal statistically significant improvements in Great Britain's infant mortality rate concurrent with the implementation of the NHS, a comparison with other western European nations reveals similar improvements simultaneously with the British policy intervention. Thus, we cannot conclude that the NHS had a significant effect upon British health. A more important result, however, is the demonstration of the utility of both the Box-Jenkins techniques and, in conjunction, the nonequivalent control group quasi-experimental design as important tools for performing policy evaluations.