Abstract
Reforms giving users of public services choice of provider aim to improve quality. But such reforms will work only if quality affects choice of provider. We test this crucial pre-requisite in the English healthcare market by examining the choice of 3.4 million individuals of family doctor. Family doctor practices provide primary care and control access to non-emergency hospital care, the quality of their clinical care is measured and published, and care is free. In this setting clinical quality should affect choice. We find that a one standard deviation increase in clinical quality would increase practice size by around 17%.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 445–494 |
| Number of pages | 50 |
| Journal | The Economic Journal |
| Volume | 127 |
| Issue number | 600 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 23 Feb 2016 |
