Analyses that involve the allocation of scarce resources among competing alternative uses, and the distribution of the products from these uses among members of the society.

Three common types of economic analysis are:
- cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), a type of analysis that compares interventions or programs having a common measurement of health outcome in a situation where, for a given level of resources, the decision maker wishes to maximize the health benefits conferred to the population of concern;
- cost-utility analysis (CUA), a type of analysis that measures benefits in utility-weighted life-years (QALYs) and that computes a cost per utility-measure ratio for comparison between programs;
- cost-benefit analysis (CBA), a type of analysis that measures costs and benefits in monetary units and computes a net monetary gain/loss or a cost-benefit ratio.

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. Glossary. Internet. Accessed September 9, 2009.