The Impact of Medical Liability Standards on Regional Variations in Physician Behavior: Evidence from the Adoption of National-Standard Rules

Michael Frakes

American Economic Review, 2013, vol. 103, issue 1, 257-76

Abstract: I explore the association between regional variations in physician behavior and the geographical scope of malpractice standards of care. I estimate a 30-50 percent reduction in the gap between state and national utilization rates of various treatments and diagnostic procedures following the adoption of a rule requiring physicians to follow national, as opposed to local, standards. These findings suggest that standardization in malpractice law may lead to greater standardization in practices and, more generally, that physicians may indeed adhere to specific liability standards. In connection with the estimated convergence in practices, I observe no associated changes in patient health. (JEL I11, I18, J44, K13)

JEL-codes: I11 I18 J44 K13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.1.257
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (56)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.103.1.257 (application/pdf)
https://www.aeaweb.org/aer/data/feb2013/20100270_data.zip (application/zip)
https://www.aeaweb.org/aer/data/feb2013/20100270_app.pdf (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:103:y:2013:i:1:p:257-76

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/subscriptions

Access Statistics for this article

American Economic Review is currently edited by Esther Duflo

More articles in American Economic Review from American Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael P. Albert ().