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The Efficiency of Slacking Off: Evidence from the Emergency Department

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  • David C. Chan, Jr.

Abstract

Work schedules play an important role in utilizing labor in organizations. In this study of emergency department physicians in shift work, schedules induce two distortions: First, physicians "slack off" by accepting fewer patients near end of shift (EOS). Second, physicians distort patient care, incurring higher costs as they spend less time on patients accepted near EOS. Examining how these effects change with shift overlap reveals a tradeoff between the two. Within an hour after the normal time of work completion, physicians are willing to spend hospital resources eight times more than their market wage to preserve their leisure. Accounting for overall costs, I find that physicians slack off at approximately second-best optimal levels.

Suggested Citation

  • David C. Chan, Jr., 2015. "The Efficiency of Slacking Off: Evidence from the Emergency Department," NBER Working Papers 21002, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21002
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    2. Alex Barrachina & Víctor González-Chordá, 2016. "To report or not to report: Applying game theory to nursing error reporting," Working Papers 2016/14, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General

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