Screening and Selection: The Case of Mammograms

Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, Tamar Oostrom, Abigail Ostriker and Heidi Williams ()

American Economic Review, 2020, vol. 110, issue 12, 3836-70

Abstract: We analyze selection into screening in the context of recommendations that breast cancer screening start at age 40. Combining medical claims with a clinical oncology model, we document that compliers with the recommendation are less likely to have cancer than younger women who select into screening or women who never screen. We show this selection is quantitatively important: shifting the recommendation from age 40 to 45 results in three times as many deaths if compliers were randomly selected than under the estimated patterns of selection. The results highlight the importance of considering characteristics of compliers when making and designing recommendations.

JEL-codes: I12 I18 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Working Paper: Screening and Selection: The Case of Mammograms (2019)
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DOI: 10.1257/aer.20191191

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