This paper exploits rich SOEP microdata to analyze state-level variation in health care utilization in Germany. Unlike most studies in the field of the Small Area Variation (SAV) literature, our approach allows us to net out a large array of individual-level and state-level factors that may...

Aus vielen Ecken hört man, dass das deutsche Gesundheitssystem ein schwieriger Patient ist. Dem deutschen Gesundheitswesen wird angelastet, in zu viele Sektoren mit unterschiedlichen Vergütungssystemen aufgesplittert zu sein, was die Unwirtschaftlichkeit und Brüche in den therapeutischen...

Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde im Februar 2006 am Fachbereich Wirtschaft der Hochschule Wismar als Master-Thesis im Fern-Studiengang Krankenhausmanagement angenommen. Dieser Studiengang war entwickelt worden, um gerade Ärztinnen und Ärzten ein vertieftes Verständnis für die rechtlichen und...

Regarding social needs in Germany long-term care is an important issue due to an ageing population. Shrinking social networks are leading to a greater need for a public long-term care system. In 1995 the social long-term care insurance was introduced in Germany which is similar in nature to the...

We investigate the spillover effects of early-life medical treatments on the siblings of treated children. We use a regression discontinuity design that exploits changes in medical treatments across the very low birth weight (VLBW) cutoff. Using administrative data from Denmark, we first confirm...

Early intervention is considered as the optimal response to developmental disorders in children. However, relatively little is known about the effectiveness of the standard practice of so-called developmental screenings. We evaluate a nationwide program for preschoolers in Austria....

Food insecurity is one of the most, if not the most, significant, nutrition-related public health issue confronted in the US. Unfortunately, we know very little about the determinants of food security except that it is not synonymous with poverty. Many households above the poverty line are food...

We develop a stylized principal-agent model with moral hazard and adverse selection to provide a unified framework for understanding some of the most salient features of the recent physician payment reform in Ontario and its impact on physician behavior. These features include: (1) physicians...

Gender inequalities in mortality/life expectancy have been a major area of research in the social sciences since the 1970s. However, the questions posed and the research strategies used are still in a state of flux. In the present paper we shed some light on two related questions: (i) Which...