Using the Hawthorne effect to examine the gap between a doctor's best possible practice and actual performance
Abstract
Many doctors in developing countries provide considerably lower quality care to their patients than they have been trained to provide. The gap between best possible practice and actual performance (often referred to as the know-do gap) is difficult to measure among doctors who differ in levels of training and experience and who face very different types of patients. We exploit the Hawthorne effect-in which doctors change their behavior when a researcher comes to observe their practices-to measure the gap between best and actual performance. We analyze this gap for a sample of doctors and also examine the impact of the organization for which doctors work on their performance. We find that some organizations succeed in motivating doctors to work at levels of performance that are close to their best possible practice. This paper adds to recent evidence that motivation can be as important to health care quality as training and knowledge.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Development Economics.
Volume (Year): 93 (2010)
Issue (Month): 2 (November)
Pages: 226-234
Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/devec
Related research
Keywords: Motivation Practice quality Health care Tanzania Hawthorne effect;Other versions of this item:
- Leonard, Kenneth L. & Masatu, Melkiory C., 2008. "Using the Hawthorne Effect to Examine the Gap Between a Doctor's Best Possible Practice and Actual Performance," Working Papers 36693, University of Maryland, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
- I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
- O1 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
- O2 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- J. Michelle Brock & Andreas Lange & Kenneth L. Leonard, 2012. "Generosity norms and intrinsic motivation in health care provision: evidence from the laboratory and the field," Working Papers 147, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Office of the Chief Economist.
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