I have developed a random effects probit model in which the distribution of the random intercept is approximated by a discrete density. Monte Carlo results show that only three to four points of support are required for the discrete density to closely mimic normal and chi-squared densities and...

We examine access to general practitioners and specialists who work in the public and private sectors in Italy using a seemingly unrelated system of probits. We use a latent class formulation that provides a rich and flexible functional form and can accommodate non-normality of response...

This article analyzes the effect of gatekeeper and network restrictions on use of health-care services using simulation-based estimation methods. Data from the Community Tracking Survey (1996-1997) show significant evidence of selection into plans with gatekeeper and|or network restrictions....

This paper evaluates the extent to which patients may substitute physician and non-physician outpatient mental health services in response to insurance coverage which differs by provider type. Using data from the National Medical Expenditure Survey, a semi-flexible two-stage demand specification...

This paper estimates treatment effects of managed care plans on the utilization of health care services using data from two contemporaneous, nationally representative household surveys from the USA. The paper exploits recent advances in simulation-based econometrics to take the endogeneity of...

Estimates of health care demand are known to depend on the empirical specification used in the analysis. In this paper, an innovative specification, the finite mixture model (FMM), is employed to estimate the utilization of and expenditures on behavioural health care. Unlike standard...

SUMMARY In this paper, we estimate a copula‐based bivariate dynamic hurdle model of prescription drug and nondrug expenditures to test the cost‐offset hypothesis, which posits that increased expenditures on prescription drugs are offset by reductions in other nondrug expenditures. We apply...