The formation of physician altruism

Arthur Attema, Matteo Galizzi, Mona Groß, Heike Hennig-Schmidt, Yassin Karay, L’Haridon, Olivier and Daniel Wiesen
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Olivier L'Haridon

Journal of Health Economics, 2023, vol. 87, issue C

Abstract: We study how patient-regarding altruism is formed by medical education. We elicit and structurally estimate altruistic preferences using experimental data from a large sample of medical students (N = 733) in Germany at different progress stages in their studies. The estimates reveal substantial heterogeneity in altruistic preferences of medical students. Patient-regarding altruism is highest for freshmen, significantly declines for students in the course of medical studies, and tends to increase again for last year students, who assist in clinical practice. Also, patient-regarding altruism is higher for females and positively associated to general altruism. Altruistic medical students have gained prior practical experience in healthcare, have lower income expectations, and are more likely to choose surgery and pediatrics as their preferred specialty.

Keywords: Patient-regarding altruism; Medical education; Laboratory experiment; Online experiment; Structural estimation; Specialty choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D03 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: The formation of physician altruism (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:87:y:2023:i:c:s0167629622001308

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102716

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