Market structure and gender disparity in health care: Preferences, competition, and quality of care

  • Ryan C. Mcdevitt
  • , James W. Roberts

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    9 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    We consider the relationship between market structure and health outcomes in a setting where patients have stark preferences: urology patients disproportionately match with a urologist of the same gender. In the United States, however, fewer than 6% of urologists are women despite women constituting 30% of patients. We explain a portion of this disparity with a model of imperfect competition in which urology groups strategically differentiate themselves by employing female urologists. These strategic effects may influence women's health, as markets without a female urologist have a 7.3% higher death rate for female bladder cancer, all else equal.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)116-139
    Number of pages24
    JournalRAND Journal of Economics
    Volume45
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Mar 2014

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