On having your cake and eating it too : econometric problems in estimating the demand for health services / Joseph P. Newhouse, Charles E. Phelps, M. Susan Marquis.
Publisher: Santa Monica, CA : RAND, 1979Description: ix, 40 pages : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type:- text
- computer
- unmediated
- online resource
- volume
- 0833001345
- RA410.53 .N49 1979
- Also available on the internet via WWW in PDF format.
"October 1979."
Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-40).
Discusses certain methodological problems in the economics literature related to the demand for medical care. There are two principal problems examined: misspecification of how insurance affects demand, and aggregation across services or across individuals. It is shown that in both cases estimates contained in the literature are inconsistent. Where possible, the direction of the inconsistency is obtained a priori. The paper also makes estimates of the magnitude of the inconsistency; the demand elasticities estimated in the economics literature may be overstated by a factor of three or more.
Also available on the internet via WWW in PDF format.
Description based on print version record.