SMU SOE Seminar Series (November 27, 2023): The Productivity of Professions: Evidence from the Emergency Department

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ABSTRACT This paper studies the productivity of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physicians, two professions performing overlapping tasks but with stark differences in background, training, and pay. Using quasi experimental variation in patient assignment to NPs versus physicians in 44 Veterans Health Administration emergency departments, we find that, on average, NPs use more resources but achieve worse patient outcomes relative to physicians. The costs of lower productivity surpass the pay differences between the professions. Yet even larger productivity variation exists within each profession, implying substantial productivity overlap between the two professions. Within professions, wages and assigned patient complexity vary only weakly with productivity. JEL Codes: I11, I18, J24, J44, M53. Click here to view the paper. Click here to view the CV.
		PRESENTER David Chan Stanford University
		RESEARCH FIELDS Health Labor Productivity Organizations
		DATE: 27 November 2023 (Monday)
		TIME: 4pm - 5.30pm
		VENUE: Meeting Room 5.1, Level 5 School of Economics Singapore Management University 90 Stamford Road Singapore 178903