La transformation des actes gratuits en actes payants en médecine libérale. Une étude micro-économétrique longitudinale.

In this article we focus on the issue of free care. Current literature suggests free care is associated with an extreme form of medical altruism. The sensitivity of the practitioner to a particular type of patient originates the price discrimination. Our econometric analysis tests another assumption. The correlation between free care and "paying" care is independent of the demand effects. We use an unbalanced panel data comprising 8002 self-employed physicians who were observed over the 1979-2000 period. Our results offer an empirical understanding of the free/paying care phenomenon. Also, they offer clarification of the practitioner's motivations which take an important place in the literature.