We explore how competition between physicians affects medical service provision. Previous research has shown that, in the absence of competition, physicians deviate from patient-optimal treatment under payment systems like capitation and fee-for-service. While competition might potentially...

This paper examines patient and overall welfare effects of kickbacks paid by a monopolistic hos-pital to competitive physicians in return for patient referrals. This practice is regarded as unethical and illegal in most cases. On the other hand, kickbacks can also enhance the distribution of...

We investigate two determinants of the price sensitivity of health plan demand among retirees in the German social health insurance (SHI): the size of the choice set and the salience of premium differences. We use variation in the choice set over time and between regions, and an increase in the...

Although learning-by-doing is believed to be an important source of productivity growth there is limited evidence that production volume affects productivity in a causal sense. We document evidence of learning-by-doing in a high-skill profession where stakes are high; advanced cancer surgery....

This paper examines the causal effect of volume on outcome on the example of patients with a hip fracture. We use an instrumental variable approach and consider both the practice-makes-perfect and selective-referral hypothesis as well as unobserved patient heterogeneity. Our results indicate...

Although learning-by-doing is believed to be an important source of productivity growth there is limited evidence that production volume affects productivity in a causal sense. We document evidence of learning-by-doing in a high-skill profession where stakes are high; advanced cancer surgery....

This paper examines the causal effect of volume on outcome on the example of patients with a hip fracture. We use an instrumental variable approach and consider both the practice-makes-perfect and selective-referral hypothesis as well as unobserved patient heterogeneity. Our results indicate...

We investigate two determinants of the price sensitivity of health plan demand among retirees in the German social health insurance (SHI): the size of the choice set and the salience of premium differences. We use variation in the choice set over time and between regions, and an increase in the...