Perspective in pharmacoeconomics refers to the economic vantage point of a pharmacoeconomic analysis, such as a cost-effectiveness analysis or cost-utility analysis. This affects the types of costs (resource expenditures) and benefits that are relevant to the analysis. More complex perspectives may require broader consideration of costs and more sophisticated valuations. For example, in the "societal" perspective, it is necessary for the author to consider costs that would not be relevant to a given institutional perspective. Examples include lost productivity and lost wages due to illness.