American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Provider Supply, Utilization, and Infant Health: Evidence from a Physician Distribution Policy
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 11,
no. 3, August 2019
(pp. 156–96)
Abstract
We analyze a policy that substantially expanded the supply of primary care physicians in Brazil. The program increased doctor visits across all age groups and led to greater utilization of doctors for prenatal care. However, these physicians replaced nurse visits for prenatal care without increasing the overall number of visits women receive. We find no evidence of gains in widely used metrics of infant health, including birth weight, gestation, and infant mortality. Together, these findings provide suggestive evidence that physicians and nurses may be good substitutes in the production function of infant health.Citation
Carrillo, Bladimir, and Jose Feres. 2019. "Provider Supply, Utilization, and Infant Health: Evidence from a Physician Distribution Policy." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 11 (3): 156–96. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20170619Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
- I12 Health Behavior
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J44 Professional Labor Markets; Occupational Licensing
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
There are no comments for this article.
Login to Comment