Essays on the econometric analysis of forward-looking behaviour in health care markets

Thesis

This dissertation makes three contributions to the economics literature. Chapter 1 finds that expanding health insurance that covers treatment but not prevention can discourage prevention to a large extent, when the prior literature only recovered small effects (if at all). It also uses a simple economic model to reconcile the results with estimates found in other studies. Chapter 2 shows that a regression-discontinuity design can be used to determine whether the long-run effect of a discontinuous change differs from the short-run effect traditionally estimated by these designs when the assignment variable is deterministically linked to time. Chapter 3 examines subjective medical expenses forecasts, and finds that they depart from the forecasts that would be made by a hypothetical agent that incorporated all of the relevant information in the decision-making environment.

Authors: Kaliski, D

• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Insurance; Regression discontinuity; Medicare; Prevention
• Subjects: Medical economics