The Role of Economic Efficiency in Medical Malpractice Reform Policy

Through an analysis of medical malpractice votes, a measure of economic efficiency was found to be a statistically significant contributor to a vote for medical malpractice reform. This paper argues that vote models should include such a measure as a supplement to traditional measures of self-interest and ideology that explain legislator behavior. Self-interest and ideology reflect normative characteristics of a representative, while economic efficiency considers maximization of net benefits of policy formulation and is positive. Including economic efficiency in voting models offers insight as to the type of polices that are chosen and frames the legislator’s voting decision in economic terms through a consideration of the aggregate effect of such policymaking