Gender Differences in Medical Evaluations: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Doctors / Marika Cabral, Marcus Dillender.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cabral, Marika.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Dillender, Marcus.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w29541.

NBER working paper series no. w29541

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2021.

Summary:

Little is known about what drives gender disparities in health care and related social insurance benefits. Using data and variation from the Texas workers' compensation program, we study the impact of gender match between doctors and patients on medical evaluations and associated disability benefits. Compared to differences among their male patient counterparts, female patients randomly assigned a female doctor rather than a male doctor are 5.2% more likely to be evaluated as disabled and receive 8.6% more subsequent cash benefits on average. There is no analogous gender-match effect for male patients. Our estimates indicate that increasing the share of female patients evaluated by female doctors may substantially shrink gender gaps in medical evaluations and associated outcomes.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2021.