Health Services as Credence Goods: a Field Experiment

2020 ◽  
Vol 130 (629) ◽  
pp. 1346-1383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Gottschalk ◽  
Wanda Mimra ◽  
Christian Waibel

Abstract Agency problems are a defining characteristic of healthcare markets. We present the results from a field experiment in the market for dental care: a test patient who does not need treatment is sent to 180 dentists to receive treatment recommendations. In the experiment, we vary the socio-economic status of the patient and whether a second opinion signal is sent. Furthermore, measures of market, practice and dentist characteristics are collected. We observe an overtreatment recommendation rate of 28% and a striking heterogeneity in treatment recommendations. Furthermore, we find significantly fewer overtreatment recommendations for patients with higher socio-economic status compared with lower socio-economic status for standard visits, suggesting a complex role for patients’ socio-economic status. Competition intensity, measured by dentist density, does not have a significant influence on overtreatment. Dentists with shorter waiting times are more likely to propose unnecessary treatment.

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 767-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Kuenzi ◽  
Gina M. S. Lambright

The question ‘Who votes in Africa?’ has yet to receive significant attention. We use Afrobarometer survey data to assess the determinants of voting for over 17,000 voting-age adults in 10 African countries. We find that Africans are driven by many of the same forces as their counterparts elsewhere. The agencies of mobilization are important in determining who votes in these countries. Notably, identifying with a political party is one of the most important predictors of voting. Thus, although political parties may have questionable democratic credentials in many African countries, ultimately, political parties serve the function of getting citizens to the polls. Certain attitudes also influence individuals' decisions of whether to vote, including support for democracy. Among the demographic variables, age registers a significant, positive relationship with voting. Interestingly, the study’s findings regarding the socio-economic status (SES) model are contradictory. Educated Africans in these countries are significantly more likely to vote than their less educated counterparts, as the SES model would lead one to expect. Contrary to what one would expect based on the SES model, more impoverished Africans are also significantly more likely to vote than their wealthier counterparts. In addition, the institutional and political context influences individuals' propensities to vote.


2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn De Coster

ABSTRACTCataract surgery is the highest-volume surgical procedure in Canada, with over 200,000 performed annually, mostly (85%) on persons aged 65 or older. Concerns have been raised about wait times to access this procedure. This study explores the relationship between waiting times for cataract surgery in Manitoba and a variety of characteristics, including age, sex, socio-economic status, region of residence, health status, surgeon, and surgeon's caseload. The study included 6,114 individuals who had first-eye cataract surgery between November 1, 1998, and March 31, 2000, in Winnipeg, MB. Significant predictors of variation in wait times were age, sex, having a hospitalization while waiting, and surgeon. The model explained 32.5 per cent of the variance in wait times; specific surgeon independently explained 29.5 per cent of the variance. Median waiting times varied widely by surgeon, ranging from 61 to 399 days. Differences in surgeons' expected wait times should be available to patients and referring clinicians.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjoy Banerjee Bappa ◽  
Md. Mer Mosharraf Hossain ◽  
Bipul Kumar Dey ◽  
Shirin Akter ◽  
Md. Hasan-Uj-Jaman

This study was carried out to assess the socio-economic status of fishermen of the Marjat Baor at Kaligonj of Jhenidah district. Fifty fishermen from 50 families were interviewed. Results revealed that 94% respondents were married and age varied between 30 and 45 years. Almost all the fishermen were Hindus (96%). Most of the people of the community were illiterate (60%) and among all of the school going children (58%) were boys and (42%) were girls. Above fifty percent people lived in nuclear family. 40% people lived in earthen house, constructed by grass leaves and mud. Only a few (18%) of them were found to be use electricity. Primary occupation of 60% respondents was fishing and few were also involved in agriculture. They were often found to suffer from various diseases due to lack of pure drinking water. Majority of them got fever and receive treatment from quack. Only twelve percent (12%) women were engaged in making nets for fishing. Annual household income of maximum beneficiaries (44%) was below BDT 30,000 and above BDT 50,000 found in only 4% cases. In the present study, educational, organizational, and technical credit support were very crucial to develop their better socio-economic conditions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Larsson Taghizadeh ◽  
Angelica Åström ◽  
Per Adman

Abstract In ethnically diverse societies, are citizens treated equally by their political representatives? Several field experiments find that politicians discriminate in their daily communication with voters. However, these studies only focus on the USA and South Africa and may overestimate the degree of discrimination by ignoring sex and socio-economic status. We address these shortcomings by investigating ethnic discrimination in Sweden. In an email experiment, all 812 municipal commissioners were randomly contacted by voters with Arabic- or Swedish-sounding names. Our results do not show any clear signs of discrimination; thus, previous results might not be generalisable to Sweden or similar democracies.


1964 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell J. Love

A battery of six tests assessing various aspects of receptive and expressive oral language was administered to 27 cerebral palsied children and controls matched on the variables of age, intelligence, sex, race, hearing acuity, socio-economic status, and similarity of educational background. Results indicated only minimal differences between groups. Signs of deviancy in language behavior often attributed to the cerebral palsied were not observed. Although previous investigators have suggested consistent language disturbances in the cerebral palsied, evidence for a disorder of comprehension and formulation of oral symobls was not found.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 320-323
Author(s):  
Samar Hossain ◽  
Sharma Priyanka ◽  
Talib Hossain ◽  
Surendra Mohan Mathur

Objective: The last two decades have witnessed an increase in health care costs due to obesity and related issues among children and adolescents. Childhood obesity is a global phenomenon affecting all socio-economic groups, irrespective of age, sex or ethnicity. The study was done to find the the prevalence of obesity and overweight and their association with socioeconomic status (SES) and the risk factors. Materials and Methods: School based cross sectional study carried out over a period of 4 months in three schools of East Delhi. The study was carried out in 629 school children of 10–18 years of age and belonging to different socioeconomic statuses in schools in East Delhi. The obesity and overweight were considered using an updated body mass index reference. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to determine the Socio-economic status and life style factors. Results: The prevalence of overweight among children was higher in middle socioeconomic status groups as compared to high socioeconomic class in both boys and girls whereas the prevalence of obesity was higher in high Socio economic status group as compared to middle socioeconomic group. The prevalence of obesity as well as overweight in low SES group was the lowest as compared to other group. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the prevalence of overweight and obesity varies remarkably with different socioeconomic development levels.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlen Reyes ◽  
M Kassim Javaid ◽  
Cyrus Cooper ◽  
Adolfo Diez-Perez ◽  
Daniel Prieto-Alhambra

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