Does Diversity Matter for Health? Experimental Evidence from Oakland / Marcella Alsan, Owen Garrick, Grant C. Graziani.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Alsan, Marcella.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Garrick, Owen.

Graziani, Grant C.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w24787.

NBER working paper series no. w24787

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2018.

Summary:

We study the effect of physician workforce diversity on the demand for preventive care among African-American men. In an experiment in Oakland, California, we randomize black men to black or non-black male medical doctors. We use a two-stage design, measuring decisions before (pre-consultation) and after (post-consultation) meeting their assigned doctor. Subjects select a similar number of preventives in the preconsultation stage, but are much more likely to select every preventive service, particularly invasive services, once meeting with a racially concordant doctor. Our findings suggest black doctors could reduce the black-white male gap in cardiovascular mortality by 19%.

Notes:

Print version record

June 2018.