Gender Differences in Medical Evaluations: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Doctors
中文摘要
对于医疗服务及相关社会保险待遇中的性别差距由何种因素驱动，目前所知甚少。利用得克萨斯州工伤补偿计划的数据及其产生的变异，我们研究医生与患者性别匹配对医疗评估及相关伤残待遇的影响。与男性患者中对应的差异相比，随机分配给女性医生而非男性医生的女性患者，被评定为伤残的可能性平均高出5.2%，随后获得的现金待遇平均多出8.6%。男性患者不存在类似的性别匹配效应。我们的估计表明，提高由女性医生评估的女性患者比例，可能会大幅缩小医疗评估及相关结果中的性别差距。(JEL H75, I11, I12, J14, J16, J28)
Abstract
Little is known about what drives gender disparities in health care and related social insurance benefits. Using data and variation from the Texas workers’ compensation program, we study the impact of gender match between doctors and patients on medical evaluations and associated disability benefits. Compared to differences among their male patient counterparts, female patients randomly assigned a female doctor rather than a male doctor are 5.2 percent more likely to be evaluated as disabled and receive 8.6 percent more subsequent cash benefits on average. There is no analogous gender-match effect for male patients. Our estimates indicate that increasing the share of female patients evaluated by female doctors may substantially shrink gender gaps in medical evaluations and associated outcomes. (JEL H75, I11, I12, J14, J16, J28)