Showing papers in "Journal of Human Resources in 1978"
500Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a multiequation, multivariate analysis of differences in the supply of surgeons and the demand for operations across geographical areas of the United States in 1963 and 1970.
Abstract: This paper presents a multiequation, multivariate analysis of differences in the supply of surgeons and the demand for operations across geographical areas of the United States in 1963 and 1970. The results provide considerable support for the hypothesis that surgeons shift the demand for operations. Other things equal, a 10 percent increase in the surgeon/population ratio results in about a 3 percent increase in per capita utilization. Moreover, differences in supply seem to have a perverse effect on fees, raising them when the surgeon/population ratio increases. Surgeon supply is in part determined by factors unrelated to demand, especially by the attractiveness of the area as a place to live.
312Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a model depicting the physician's participation decision is developed, and predictions from the comparative statics analysis are discussed, showing that high fee schedules and low administrative burdens are ways to stimulate physician involvement with Medicaid patients.
Abstract: Medicaid requires that physicians who accept Medicaid reimbursement for treating a patient agree to accept its payment as payment in full. Policy instruments under Medicaid's control are both levels of reimbursement and various administrative burdens imposed on physicians by the program. A model depicting the physician's participation decision is developed, and predictions from the comparative statics analysis are discussed. Data came from a 1975--76 survey of fee-for-service physicians. The results indicate that high fee schedules and low administrative burdens are ways to stimulate physician involvement with Medicaid patients. Results on the Medicaid policy instruments and other explanatory variables on the whole lend support to the model of physician behavior proposed earlier in the paper.
218Â citations
TL;DR: This paper analyzed long-term trends in racial and gender wage disparities in the urban labor market of Sao Paulo, one of Latin America's most dynamic economies, using census data from 1960-2000.
Abstract: This study relies on Brazilian census data from 1960-2000 to analyze long-term trends in racial and gender wage disparities in the urban labor market of Sao Paulo, one of Latin America's most dynamic economies. Afro-Brazilians and women have made ...
137Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors attempt to separate undergraduate, graduate, and research costs at the university and find that the proportion of resources allocated to each of these activities varies systematically across time and institutions.
Abstract: This paper attempts to separate undergraduate, graduate, and research costs at the university Since the proportion of resources allocated to each of these activities varies systematically across time and institutions, this disaggregation alters our cross-sectional and intertemporal picture of productivity, net benefits, and subsidies in higher education Real undergraduate costs are shown to be much lower than previously assumed and the social rate of return higher; educational "productivity" has been rising through time, contrary to popular belief Undergraduate education is now a profitable "production" activity at universities, used to subsidize their "consumption" of loss-making graduate education Community college teaching is more costly and heavily subsidized than university teaching of lower-division students
126Â citations
TL;DR: This paper addresses the theoretical models designed to ascertain the existence of a variable level of physicians' activity in shifting the demand of their patients, using equilibrium models of the demand for health care and disequilibrium models.
Abstract: This paper addresses the theoretical models designed to ascertain the existence of a variable level of physicians' activity in shifting the demand of their patients. Two basic approaches are followed: equilibrium models of the demand for health care, and disequilibrium models. Within the former category, both competitive and monopolistic behavior are studied. Using the monopolistic model, a statistical test of the hypothesis of "no induced demand" is constructed, and fails to reject it. The disequilibrium analysis of other writers is analyzed and alternative specifications of such a model are set out.
69Â citations
TL;DR: The authors proposed a new approach to analyze gender differences in wages, identifying several alternative explanatory mechanisms to account for the sorting of women and men into different types of jobs that offer different levels of reward.
Abstract: We propose a new approach to analyzing gender differences in wages. This approach identifies several alternative explanatory mechanisms to account for the sorting of women and men into different types of jobs that offer different levels of reward. ...
65Â citations
TL;DR: Multivariate techniques are employed to examine four measures of pediatric care utilization in a national sample of children between the ages of 1 and 5.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to understand the determinants of utilization of pediatric care--care rendered to children by all physicians. Multivariate techniques are employed to examine four measures of pediatric care utilization in a national sample of children between the ages of 1 and 5. These measures are the probability of contacting a physician within the past year, the probability of obtaining a preventive physical examination within the past year, the number of office visits to physicians in private practice by children with positive visits, and the average quality of these visits.
63Â citations
TL;DR: Cost data for a sample of non-major-teaching, short-term hospitals to information on the characteristics of the medical staff which treats patients in those hospitals are related.
Abstract: In order to test the hypothesis that medical staff physicians affect hospital behavior, this paper relates cost data for a sample of non-major-teaching, short-term hospitals to information on the characteristics of the medical staff which treats patients in those hospitals. Measured characteristics of the staff include specialty mix of attending physicians, board-certification status, and the concentration of hospital output among attending physicians. Medical staff variables are found to be as important as measured casemix in explaining cost variation across hospitals. The results are shown to have implications for behavioral models of the hospital and for hospital reimbursement policy.
62Â citations
TL;DR: A theory of demand for preventive medical services is developed from a model of an expected-ultility-maximizing consumer, which shows that many commonly accepted screening procedures have no observable payoff in health status or medical expenses saved.
Abstract: A theory of demand for preventive medical services is developed from a model of an expected-ultility-maximizing consumer. Preventive medical care is said to alter the probabilities of illness as well as the final health outcome in sick states. The value of preventive medical care depends upon pure health gains (which directly increase utility), work-loss-time avoided, and out-of-pocket medical expenses avoided. Studies cited from the literature show that many commonly accepted screening procedures have no observable payoff in health status or medical expenses saved. In stark contrast, personal behavioral decisions, such as smoking and dietary patterns, appear to have dramatic effects on health and mortality. Public policy appears to be better directed toward inducement of such health-producing behavior than inducement of further medical preventive procedures.
61Â citations
TL;DR: The two advertising bans work by interaction--both must be present to raise significantly the price of eye examinations, and an empirical section shows that price is 16 percent higher in states that ban optometric and optician price advertising.
Abstract: We examine the effect of advertising bans on the price of optometric examinations. Advertising is viewed as an information medium which enables consumers to search for lower prices, to the relative disadvantage of high-cost, low-volume sellers. Self-interest leads these sellers to support bans on advertising. An empirical section shows that price is 16 percent higher in states that ban optometric and optician price advertising, when examination length, procedures, and office equipment are held constant. The two advertising bans work by interaction--both must be present to raise significantly the price of eye examinations.
TL;DR: In this article, a controlled experiment designed to test the effectiveness of transitional aid programs for ex-prisoners in reducing theft crimes is presented from a randomized controlled experiment, where a sample of men with high (ex ante) probabilities of committing theft crimes were enrolled in treatment and control groups.
Abstract: Findings are presented from a controlled experiment designed to test the effectiveness of transitional aid programs for ex-prisoners in reducing theft crimes. Upon release from prison, a sample of men with high (ex ante) probabilities of committing theft crimes were enrolled in treatment and control groups. One year after release, a group receiving financial aid had significantly fewer arrests for theft crimes than did the controls. Calculations of the social benefit/cost ratio show that the benefits of transitional income maintenance substantially outweighed the costs. In contrast, the provision of job-placement assistance turned out to have no significant effect on post-release behavior.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used results from the Seattle and Denver Income Maintenance Experiments (IME) to predict nationwide labor-supply effects and costs of six alternative negative income tax programs.
Abstract: Results from the Seattle and Denver Income Maintenance Experiments are used to predict nationwide labor-supply effects and costs of six alternative negative income tax programs. To make the predictions, a labor-supply model parameterizing the experimental treatments is estimated using experimental data. The parameters of this model are introduced into a microsimulation model called Microanalysis of Transfers to Households (MATH). The simulations employ the March 1975 Current Population Survey (CPS), which is a weighted random sample of the U.S. population. The simulations are performed within a partial equilibrium framework under the assumption that the demand for low-income labor is perfectly elastic. The simulation results indicate that coverage, costs, and labor-supply effects of a national NIT program vary widely with the parameters of the program.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the feedback from racial wage differences to unemployment differentials among experienced workers and found that the removal of racial wage differentials will increase the relative unemployment of blacks, but this conclusion rests on a demand-oriented analysis of discrimination which omits the effect of market discrimination on racial differences in quit behavior, movements between market and nonmarket activity, and related unemployment.
Abstract: This paper examines theoretically and empirically the feedback from racial wage differences to unemployment differentials among experienced workers. Although the received theory predicts that the removal of racial wage differentials will increase the relative unemployment of blacks, this conclusion rests on a demand-oriented analysis of discrimination which omits the effect of market discrimination on racial differences in quit behavior, movements between market and nonmarket activity, and related unemployment. The empirical work in the paper analyzes turnover flows and the probability of incurring unemployment, conditional on turnover by race. In clarifying the role of racial wage differentials on supply behavior, the results challenge the traditional interpretation of the effect of wage discrimination.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors cast doubt on the validity of the norms hypothesis, which states that physicians treat patients according to the average or modal insurance coverage in an area, and the one study directly supporting this hypothesis is misspecified; when more correctly specified, it provides no support for the hypothesis.
Abstract: Our results cast doubt on the validity of the norms hypothesis--that physicians treat patients in accordance with the average or modal insurance coverage in an area. The one study in the literature directly supporting this hypothesis is misspecified; when more correctly specified, it provides no support for the hypothesis. Two versions of the hypothesis are distinguished. the stronger maintains that physicians do not take account of within-area variation in insurance coverage. This version is firmly rejected by the data. A weaker version says that the physician does take account of within-area variation but that between-area differences in average coverage have an independent effect on demand. Little or no support is found for this version, but our data do not permit very powerful tests.
TL;DR: The authors presented new measures of the implicit marginal tax rate on earnings in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program for 1967 and 1971, and found that while federal policy caused tax rates to decline in most states, some states counteracted the federal initiative by altering AFDC program parameters.
Abstract: This paper presents new measures of the implicit marginal tax rate on earnings in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Previous measures suffer from two types of bias. First, they do not adequately control for nonlinear relationships between AFDC payments and earnings. Second, they are estimated in truncated samples. Through explicit consideration of the AFDC payment formula, methods are devised for eliminating both biases. Using these methods, new estimates of AFDC tax rates are obtained for 1967 and 1971. The data reveal that while federal policy caused tax rates to decline in most states, some states counteracted the federal initiative by altering AFDC program parameters.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measure the effectiveness of one such add-on grant, the federal government's program to increase local education spending on pupils from low-income families, and conclude that this aid is quite effective and therefore suggests that the traditional theory of intergovernmental aid should be extended to recognize this type of grant.
Abstract: Analyses of intergovernmental aid emphasize the difference between matching grants and block grants. Since a block grant has only an income effect and no price effect, conventional theory predicts that block grants have a very small impact on the local government's expenditure on the favored activity. There is, however, a different type of block grant referred to in this paper as a "differential add-on grant." The purpose of the present paper is to measure the effectiveness of one such add-on grant, the federal government's program to increase local education spending on pupils from low-income families. The evidence implies that this aid is quite effective and therefore suggests that the traditional theory of intergovernmental aid should be extended to recognize this type of grant.
TL;DR: This article used census data from 1960 and 1970, augmented with schooling data (expenditures per pupil as well as other measures of school quality) from the various Biennial Surveys of Education, to analyze the impact of education quality on earnings and to...
Abstract: Census data from 1960 and 1970, augmented with schooling data (expenditures per pupil as well as other measures of school quality) from the various Biennial Surveys of Education, are utilized to analyze the impact of school quality on earnings and to ...
TL;DR: This study finds support for the hypothesis that performance is in part a function of rewards, no evidence that faculty wives are rewarded more highly than other women, and quality, as measured by publications, appears to have increased since affirmative action was introduced.
Abstract: Recent publications have argued that (1) differences in performance of men and women in university faculties account for most or all of the existing differences in rank and salary, (2) faculty wives receive preferential treatment in order to attract their husbands, and (3) affirmative action is potentially harmful to the quality of universities. This study, conducted on a large research-oriented campus, finds (1) support for the hypothesis that performance is in part a function of rewards, (2) no evidence that faculty wives are rewarded more highly than other women, and (3), quality, as measured by publications, appears to have increased since affirmative action was introduced.
TL;DR: The model is used to estimate the effects of occupational licensure on wages and the division of labor in clinical laboratories and to generate a low-bound estimate of the welfare impact of licensure.
Abstract: This paper develops a model of the economic impact of occupational licensure. The model is then used to estimate the effects of occupational licensure on wages and the division of labor in clinical laboratories and to generate a low-bound estimate of the welfare impact of licensure. Estimates are based on cross-section and time-series data on areas with and without licensure of laboratory personnel. Recent licensure laws have no effect on wages or employment, but older, more stringent laws sharply increase the wages and employment of skilled personnel in laboratories.
TL;DR: In this paper, the relative ability of the human capital model and of an alternative national distribution hypothesis to generate predicted distributions of earnings that are close to actual distributions within 48 SMSAs was examined.
Abstract: Microdata are used to examine the relative ability of the human capital model and of an alternative national distribution hypothesis to generate predicted distributions of earnings that are close to actual distributions within 48 SMSAs. Surprisingly, the national distribution hypothesis is found to be relatively more robust in predicting earnings distributions than the fixed-parameter human capital model. Earnings functions are then estimated separately within each SMSA, and it is found that the parameters of the human capital model vary significantly across labor markets. Further analysis examines the relationship between earnings distributions, the estimated parameters of the model, city size, and region.
TL;DR: In this paper, a theoretical model is developed which yields the prediction that firms in more highly concentrated industries will be more likely to practice employment discrimination than other firms, and the model is tested for both race and sex discrimination.
Abstract: A theoretical model is developed which yields the prediction that firms in more highly concentrated industries will be more likely to practice employment discrimination than other firms. The model is tested for both race and sex discrimination. The results generally confirm that firms in more highly concentrated industries discriminate more. The evidence suggests that firms which discriminate on the basis of race also do so on the basis of sex. The implications of equal-work-equal-pay legislation for employment discrimination are investigated, and we find that there may be a trade-off between employment discrimination and equalization of wages.
TL;DR: The results indicate that physician willingness to accept insurer reimbursement as payment in full is sensitive to the amount the insurer pays for specific procedures and to other insurance program characteristics.
Abstract: Various health insurance programs, including Blue Shield, have developed arrangements whereby the physician agrees to accept the insurer's reimbursement as payment in full. Incentives facing the physician to accept an arrangement of this type are reviewed in this study. The empirical work uses data on individual physicians from a 1973 survey. The results indicate that physician willingness to accept insurer reimbursement as payment in full is sensitive to the amount the insurer pays for specific procedures and to other insurance program characteristics. Physicians located in high patient income areas and/or with relatively prestigious credentials are less likely to accept insurer payments as payment in full. The empirical findings are used to generate policy implications pertaining to the Medicare and Medicaid programs, to medical care quality-access tradeoffs, and to national health insurance.
TL;DR: The value of a medical education as opposed to education for alternative professional careers, using 1970 Census data, is reported, and it is found that the returns to investment in medical education exceed those to Education for alternative professions.
Abstract: This article reports the value of a medical education as opposed to education for alternative professional careers, using 1970 Census data. When standard net present value computations are performed, it is found that the returns to investment in medical education exceed those to education for alternative professions. When the computations are adjusted for hours worked, physicians' earnings become roughly equal to those of dentists and lawyers but remain clearly superior to those of the other professions considered. Additional information on the earnings of physician cohorts vs. dentist cohorts for the post-Flexner era is also reported.
TL;DR: In this paper, financial constraints imposed on the rehabilitation services budget may reject the principle that a benefit-cost ratio greater than unity is better than unity, and rehabilitation services may be used in handling the workers' compensation loss exposure of business firms.
Abstract: Rehabilitation services may be used in handling the workers' compensation loss exposure of business firms. Possible financial constraints imposed on the rehabilitation services budget may reject the principle that a benefit-cost ratio greater than unity ...
TL;DR: The authors argued that no matter how racial inequality is produced, and whether or not capitalists individually or collectively practice discrimination, racial inequality benefits capitalists and hurts white workers, by weakening workers' solidarity and bargaining strength.
Abstract: Most neoclassical investigations argue that racial discrimination hurts employers and benefits white workers; however, these distributional hypotheses have not been tested empirically. This article argues that, no matter how racial inequality is produced, and whether or not capitalists individually or collectively practice discrimination, racial inequality benefits capitalists and hurts white workers, by weakening workers' solidarity and bargaining strength. The article presents several tests of this bargaining-power hypothesis. The empirical results support this hypothesis and are inconsistent with prominent neoclassical discrimination models.
TL;DR: The Work Incentive (WIN) program as mentioned in this paper provides employment, training, and supportive services to welfare recipients, and it has been evaluated on the basis of: (1) its average net impact on participant earnings and welfare dependency; (2) its relative impact on providing specific services (e.g., OJT, classroom training) to participants with varying work histories; and (3) their average and relative cost effectiveness.
Abstract: The Work Incentive (WIN) program provides employment, training, and supportive services to welfare recipients. In this paper, the WIN program is evaluated on the basis of: (1) its average net impact on participant earnings and welfare dependency; (2) its relative impact on providing specific services (e.g., OJT, classroom training) to participants with varying work histories; and (3) its average and relative cost effectiveness. It is concluded that WIN has been very effective in serving welfare recipients who have poor work histories, despite the modest average gain observed for the program as a whole; subsidized public employment is singled out as a particularly effective tool for increasing the employment and earnings of welfare recipients.
TL;DR: The YIEPP offered a minimum wage job, part-time during the school year and full time during the summer, to 16-19 year-olds from low-income households who had not as yet graduated from high school and who were enrolled in school as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The YIEPP offered a minimum wage job, part-time during the school year and full-time during the summer, to 16-19-year-olds from low-income households who had not as yet graduated from high school and who were enrolled in school. Our finding of large ...
TL;DR: A model of monopoly with constant marginal costs is used to derive a price function for dental services, and the implications are tested using data on individual practitioners from a national survey, providing strong evidence of the appropriateness of the monopoly model to analyses of the market for dental Services.
Abstract: A model of monopoly with constant marginal costs is used to derive a price function for dental services. The implications of the model are tested using data on individual practitioners from a national survey. The implications of the model are met by the data, providing strong evidence of the appropriateness of the monopoly model to analyses of the market for dental services. The empirical evidence also provides substantial information on the determinants of dental fees.