Universität zu Köln

Hennig-Schmidt, Heike and Wiesen, Daniel (2014). Other-regarding behavior and motivation in health care provision: An experiment with medical and non-medical students. Soc. Sci. Med., 108. S. 156 - 166. OXFORD: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. ISSN 0277-9536

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Abstract

Other-regarding motivation is a fundamental determinant of public service provision. In health care, one example is physicians who act benevolently towards their patients when providing medical services. Such patient-regarding motivation seems closely associated with a personal sacrifice that health service providers are willing to make. Surprisingly, evidence on physicians' motivation is rare. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating prospective physicians', in particular, medical students', motivations and behavior. We measure the willingness to sacrifice own profit in order to increase the patients' health benefit. We conduct the same analysis for non-medical students. In a controlled incentivized laboratory experiment, participants decide, in the role of physicians, on the provision of medical services under fee-for-service or capitation schemes. Overall, 42 medical students and 44 non-medical students participated in five experimental sessions conducted between 2006 and 2008. We find substantial differences under both payment systems: compared to medical students, students of non-medical majors are less patient-regarding, less willing to sacrifice their own profit, and they state less motivation to improve patients' health. This results in significantly lower patient health benefits. Some implications for health care policies in light of physician shortage and for physician payment systems are discussed. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Hennig-Schmidt, Heike UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Wiesen, Daniel UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-438976
DOI:	10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.03.001
Journal or Publication Title:	Soc. Sci. Med.
Volume:	108
Page Range:	S. 156 - 166
Date:	2014
Publisher:	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Place of Publication:	OXFORD
ISSN:	0277-9536
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language INCENTIVES; MIGRATION; SYSTEMS; ETHICS; PHYSICIANS; KNIGHTS; KNAVES; COST Multiple languages Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Social Sciences, Biomedical Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/43897