Rationing by waiting lists: an empirical investigation

S Martin; P C Smith

Rationing by waiting lists: an empirical investigation

Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Many social systems rely on a waiting list (rather than price) as a rationing device. We present a model of the waiting list for elective surgery in the British National Health Service. Waiting time is allowed to influence both supply of and demand for surgery. The resulting models of supply and demand are estimated empirically using over 4000 observations. The results indicate low elasticity of demand with respect to waiting time, suggesting that increased resources may reduce waiting times without greatly stimulating utilization. The policy implications are important for the British national government when choosing the level of public expenditure to be devoted to health care. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	141-164
Number of pages	24
Journal	JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
Volume	71
Issue number	1
Publication status	Published - Jan 1999

Keywords

health care
health policy
waiting times
MARKET
MODELS
TIME

Cite this

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title = "Rationing by waiting lists: an empirical investigation",

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AB - Many social systems rely on a waiting list (rather than price) as a rationing device. We present a model of the waiting list for elective surgery in the British National Health Service. Waiting time is allowed to influence both supply of and demand for surgery. The resulting models of supply and demand are estimated empirically using over 4000 observations. The results indicate low elasticity of demand with respect to waiting time, suggesting that increased resources may reduce waiting times without greatly stimulating utilization. The policy implications are important for the British national government when choosing the level of public expenditure to be devoted to health care. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

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KW - waiting times

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KW - MODELS

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