Modeling inter-regional patient mobility: Does distance go far enough?

Michael Irlacher, Dieter Pennerstorfer, Anna-Theresa Renner () and Florian Unger

No 2021-07, Economics working papers from Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria

Abstract: This paper estimates a theory-guided gravity equation of regional patient flows. In our model, a patient’s choice to consult a physician in a particular region depends on a measure of spatial accessibility that accounts for the exact locations of both patients and physicians. Introducing this concept in a spatial economics model, we derive an augmented gravity-type equation and show that our measure of accessibility performs better in explaining patient flows than bilateral distance. We conduct a rich set of counterfactual simulations, illustrating that the effects of physicians’ market exits on patient mobility crucially depend on their exact locations.

Keywords: gravity model; patient mobility; spatial accessibility; two-step floating catchment areas (2SFCA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 I18 R10 R12 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-ure
Note: English
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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http://www.econ.jku.at/papers/2021/wp2107.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Modeling Inter-Regional Patient Mobility: Does Distance Go Far Enough? (2021)
Working Paper: Modeling inter-regional patient mobility: Does distance go far enough? (2021)
Working Paper: Modeling inter-regional patient mobility: Does distance go far enough? (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jku:econwp:2021-07

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