A dynamic hurdle model for zero-inflated count data : with an application to health care utilization

Gregori Baetschmann and Rainer Winkelmann

Excess zeros are encountered in many empirical count data applications. We provide a new explanation of extra zeros, related to the underlying stochastic process that generates events. The process has two rates, a lower rate until the first event, and a higher one thereafter. We derive the corresponding distribution of the number of events during a fixed period and extend it to account for observed and unobserved heterogeneity. An application to the socio-economic determinants of the individual number of doctor visits in Germany illustrates the usefulness of the new approach.

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Year of publication:	2014
Authors:	Baetschmann, Gregori ; Winkelmann, Rainer
Publisher:	Zurich : Univ., Dep. of Economics
Subject:	excess zeros \| Poisson process \| exposure \| hurdle model \| Stochastischer Prozess \| Stochastic process \| Gesundheitswesen \| Health care system \| Gesundheitsversorgung \| Health care \| Schätztheorie \| Estimation theory \| Generalisiertes lineares Modell \| Generalized linear model \| Regressionsanalyse \| Regression analysis