Improving the Availability of Unrelated Stem Cell Donors: Evidence from a Major Donor Registry

Michael Haylock (), Patrick Kampkötter, Mario Macis, Jürgen Sauter (), Susanne Seitz (), Robert Slonim (), Daniel Wiesen () and Alexander H. Schmidt ()
Additional contact information
Michael Haylock: University of Tübingen
Jürgen Sauter: DKMS gGmbh Tübingen
Susanne Seitz: DKMS gGmbh Tübingen
Robert Slonim: University of Sydney
Daniel Wiesen: University of Cologne
Alexander H. Schmidt: DKMS gGmbh Tübingen

No 15096, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The unavailability of potential stem cell donors poses a critical challenge for donor registries worldwide. This study investigates the impact of initiatives of a stem cell donor registry to enhance donors' availability for confirmatory typing. Initiatives ask donors to provide a sample for genetic analysis and/or information on their temporal unavailability. We analyzed 91,479 confirmatory typing requests from DKMS Germany, a large stem cell donor registry, exploiting a quasi-random initiative assignment based on observable characteristics. We find that, first, invitation to the initiatives increases donors' availability. Intention-to-treat estimates yield effects ranging from 2.5 to 3.2 percentage points, and local average treatment effects estimates range from 3.8 to 8.2 percentage points ( baseline: 77.1%). Second, the difference in availability between participants and non-participants is over 10 percentage points. The initiatives yield a direct positive effect on donor availability and a selection effect through which participation signals a higher commitment.

Keywords: intention-to-treat; sorting; registry initiatives; donor availability; unrelated stem cell donation; local average treatment effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2022-02
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Published - published online in: American Journal of Health Economics , 2024.

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Working Paper: Improving the Availability of Unrelated Stem Cell Donors: Evidence from a Major Donor Registry (2022)
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