Siciliani, Luigi orcid.org/0000-0003-1739-7289, Fiorio, Carlo and Riganti, Andrea (2017) The Effect of Waiting Times on Demand and Supply for Elective Surgery:Evidence from Italy. Health Economics. pp. 92-105. ISSN 1057-9230
Abstract
Waiting times are a major policy concern in publicly funded health systems across OECD countries. Economists have argued that, in the presence of excess demand, waiting times act as nonmonetary prices to bring demand for and supply of health care in equilibrium. Using administrative data disaggregated by region and surgical procedure over 2010–2014 in Italy, we estimate demand and supply elasticities with respect to waiting times. We employ linear regression models with first differences and instrumental variables to deal with endogeneity of waiting times. We find that demand is inelastic to waiting times while supply is more elastic. Estimates of demand elasticity are between −0.15 to −0.24. Our results have implications on the effectiveness of policies aimed at increasing supply and their ability to reduce waiting times.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | demand,elective surgery,supply,waiting times |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Economics and Related Studies (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 03 Jul 2020 11:10 |
Last Modified: | 04 Jan 2025 00:12 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3545 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/hec.3545 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:162859 |