First Do No Harm?: Tort Reform and Birth Outcomes / Janet Currie, W. Bentley MacLeod.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Currie, Janet.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

MacLeod, W. Bentley.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w12478.

NBER working paper series no. w12478

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

First Do No Harm?

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2006.

Summary:

We examine the impact of tort reforms using U.S. birth records for 1989-2001. We make four contributions: First, we develop a model that analyzes the incentives created by specific tort reforms. Second, we assemble new data on tort reform. Third, we examine a range of outcomes. Finally, we allow for differential effects by demographic/risk group. We find that reforms of the "deep pockets rule" reduce complications of labor and C-sections, while caps on noneconomic damages increase them. Our results demonstrate there are important interactions between incentives created by tort law and other incentives facing physicians.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2006.