In this paper we study individuals' choice of general practitioners (GPs) utilizing revealed preferences data from the introduction of a regular general practitioner scheme in Norway. Having information on relevant travel distances, we compute decision makers' travel costs associated with...

What is the effect of increased wages on physician’s working hours and sector choice? This study applies an econometric framework that allows for non-convex budget sets, nonlinear labor supply curves and imperfect markets with institutional constraints. The physicians are assumed to make...

This dissertation consists of empirical essays within the subject of health economics. There are four essays in applied micro-econometrics and, as data in Essays 2 and 4 have a panel format, econometric methods for panel data are applied. Tobit-type models for limited dependent variables are...

When entering the job market registered nurses (RNs) face job alternatives with differences in wages and other job attributes. Previous studies of the nursing labor market have shown large earnings differences between similar hospital and non-hospital RNs. Corresponding differences are found in...

Shift work has a documented negative impact on workers’ health and social life, effects which are compensated for with higher wages and shorter working hours. Many countries face a ‘nursing shortage’, and increasing wages is argued to lead to an increase in the short-term labor supply in...

Many registered nurses (RNs) in Norway work part-time, or in non-health jobs. The nurses’ trade organizations claim that a wage increase will increase the short-term labor supply in health care. This paper is an attempt to identify the effects of job-type specific wage increases through policy...

In this paper we study the demand and supply of erythropoietin in four Nordic countries, using an econometric model based on discrete choice and a random utility model. It measures the effect of price changes as well as the loyalty of patients and physicians to a drug. Our main aims are to...

In March 2003 the Norwegian government implemented yardstick based price regulation schemes on a selection of drugs experiencing generic competition. The retail price cap, termed “index price”, on a drug (chemical substance) was set equal to the average of the three lowest producer prices on...

This thesis aims to explore the short-term impact of increased wages on the working hours of health personnel and their practice choice. An additional objective is to identify existing compensating differentials in the job market for health personnel.