IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pubeco/v195y2021ics0047272721000049.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

False alarm? Estimating the marginal value of health signals

Author

Listed:
  • Iizuka, Toshiaki
  • Nishiyama, Katsuhiko
  • Chen, Brian
  • Eggleston, Karen

Abstract

We investigate the marginal value of information in the context of health signals that people receive after checkups. Although underlying health status is similar for individuals just below and above a clinical threshold, treatments differ according to the checkup signals they receive. For the general population, whereas health warnings about diabetes increase healthcare utilization, health outcomes do not improve. However, among high-risk individuals, outcomes do improve, and improved health is worth its cost. These results indicate that the marginal value of health information depends on setting appropriate thresholds for health warnings and targeting individuals most likely to benefit from follow-up medical care.

Suggested Citation

  • Iizuka, Toshiaki & Nishiyama, Katsuhiko & Chen, Brian & Eggleston, Karen, 2021. "False alarm? Estimating the marginal value of health signals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:195:y:2021:i:c:s0047272721000049
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104368
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272721000049
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104368?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Angus Deaton, 2010. "Instruments, Randomization, and Learning about Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 424-455, June.
    2. Douglas Almond & Joseph J. Doyle & Amanda E. Kowalski & Heidi Williams, 2010. "Estimating Marginal Returns to Medical Care: Evidence from At-risk Newborns," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(2), pages 591-634.
    3. Jonathan Gruber, 2001. "Tobacco at the Crossroads: The Past and Future of Smoking Regulation in the United States," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 193-212, Spring.
    4. Emily Oster, 2018. "Diabetes and Diet: Purchasing Behavior Change in Response to Health Information," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 308-348, October.
    5. Baicker, Katherine & Cutler, David M. & Song, Zirui, 2010. "Workplace Wellness Programs Can Generate Savings," Scholarly Articles 5345879, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    6. Benjamin Handel & Jonathan Kolstad, 2017. "Wearable Technologies and Health Behaviors: New Data and New Methods to Understand Population Health," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 481-485, May.
    7. Duflo, Esther & Glennerster, Rachel & Kremer, Michael, 2008. "Using Randomization in Development Economics Research: A Toolkit," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 61, pages 3895-3962, Elsevier.
    8. Mattan Alalouf & Sarah Miller & Laura R. Wherry, 2019. "What Difference Does a Diagnosis Make? Evidence from Marginal Patients," NBER Working Papers 26363, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Ivan A Canay & Vishal Kamat, 2018. "Approximate Permutation Tests and Induced Order Statistics in the Regression Discontinuity Design," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(3), pages 1577-1608.
    10. Jonathan T. Kolstad, 2013. "Information and Quality when Motivation is Intrinsic: Evidence from Surgeon Report Cards," NBER Working Papers 18804, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Ginger Zhe Jin & Phillip Leslie, 2003. "The Effect of Information on Product Quality: Evidence from Restaurant Hygiene Grade Cards," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(2), pages 409-451.
    12. Amitabh Chandra & Amy Finkelstein & Adam Sacarny & Chad Syverson, 2016. "Health Care Exceptionalism? Performance and Allocation in the US Health Care Sector," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(8), pages 2110-2144, August.
    13. Rebecca Myerson & Darius Lakdawalla & Lisandro D. Colantonio & Monika Safford & David Meltzer, 2018. "Effects of expanding health screening on treatment – What should we expect? What can we learn?," Working Papers 2018-014, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    14. Jeffrey R. Kling & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2004. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects on Youth," Working Papers 1, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    15. David Dranove & Ginger Zhe Jin, 2010. "Quality Disclosure and Certification: Theory and Practice," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(4), pages 935-963, December.
    16. Xavier Giné & Dean Karlan & Jonathan Zinman, 2010. "Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract for Smoking Cessation," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 213-235, October.
    17. Kim, Hyuncheol Bryant & Lee, Suejin A. & Lim, Wilfredo, 2019. "Knowing is not half the battle: Impacts of information from the National Health Screening Program in Korea," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-14.
    18. Fukushima, Kazuya & Mizuoka, Sou & Yamamoto, Shunsuke & Iizuka, Toshiaki, 2016. "Patient cost sharing and medical expenditures for the Elderly," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 115-130.
    19. Katherine Baicker & Sendhil Mullainathan & Joshua Schwartzstein, 2015. "Behavioral Hazard in Health Insurance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1623-1667.
    20. Michal Kolesár & Christoph Rothe, 2018. "Inference in Regression Discontinuity Designs with a Discrete Running Variable," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(8), pages 2277-2304, August.
    21. Kim, Hyuncheol Bryant & Lee, Suejin & Lim, Wilfredo, 2017. "Knowing Is Not Half the Battle: Impacts of the National Health Screening Program in Korea," IZA Discussion Papers 10650, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Amy Finkelstein & Sarah Taubman & Bill Wright & Mira Bernstein & Jonathan Gruber & Joseph P. Newhouse & Heidi Allen & Katherine Baicker, 2012. "The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(3), pages 1057-1106.
    23. David Laibson, 1997. "Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 443-478.
    24. Rebecca Mary Myerson & Darius Lakdawalla & Lisandro D. Colantonio & Monika Safford & David Meltzer, 2018. "Effects of Expanding Health Screening on Treatment - What Should We Expect? What Can We Learn?," NBER Working Papers 24347, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Garber, Alan M., 2000. "Advances in cost-effectiveness analysis of health interventions," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 181-221, Elsevier.
    26. repec:pri:indrel:dsp01m613mx58m is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Zhao, Meng & Konishi, Yoshifumi & Glewwe, Paul, 2013. "Does information on health status lead to a healthier lifestyle? Evidence from China on the effect of hypertension diagnosis on food consumption," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 367-385.
    28. Emily Oster & Ira Shoulson & E. Ray Dorsey, 2013. "Optimal Expectations and Limited Medical Testing: Evidence from Huntington Disease," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 804-830, April.
    29. Alan I. Barreca & Melanie Guldi & Jason M. Lindo & Glen R. Waddell, 2011. "Saving Babies? Revisiting the effect of very low birth weight classification," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(4), pages 2117-2123.
    30. Damon Jones & David Molitor & Julian Reif, 2019. "What do Workplace Wellness Programs do? Evidence from the Illinois Workplace Wellness Study," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 1747-1791.
    31. Chaloupka, Frank J. & Warner, Kenneth E., 2000. "The economics of smoking," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 29, pages 1539-1627, Elsevier.
    32. Jonathan T. Kolstad, 2013. "Information and Quality When Motivation Is Intrinsic: Evidence from Surgeon Report Cards," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 2875-2910, December.
    33. McCrary, Justin, 2008. "Manipulation of the running variable in the regression discontinuity design: A density test," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 698-714, February.
    34. Toshiaki Iizuka, 2012. "Physician Agency and Adoption of Generic Pharmaceuticals," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2826-2858, October.
    35. Joseph Doyle & John Graves & Jonathan Gruber, 2015. "Uncovering Waste in U.S. Healthcare," NBER Working Papers 21050, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alessio Gaggero & Joan Gil & Dolores Jiménez-Rubio & Eugenio Zucchelli, 2023. "Sick and depressed? The causal impact of a diabetes diagnosis on depression," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. ZHAO Meng & YIN Ting & SEKIZAWA Yoichi, 2023. "Make Behavioral Changes for a Healthier Liver? Evidence from a liver function test in Japan," Discussion papers 23010, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    3. Kim, Hyuncheol Bryant & Lee, Suejin & Lim, Wilfredo, 2017. "Knowing Is Not Half the Battle: Impacts of the National Health Screening Program in Korea," IZA Discussion Papers 10650, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Gaggero, Alessio & Gil, Joan & Jiménez-Rubio, Dolores & Zucchelli, Eugenio, 2022. "Does health information affect lifestyle behaviours? The impact of a diabetes diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    5. Lusher, Lester & Ruberg, Tim, 2023. "Killer Alerts? Public Health Warnings and Heat Stroke in Japan," IZA Discussion Papers 16562, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Karen Eggleston & Brian K. Chen & Chih-Hung Chen & Ying Isabel Chen & Talitha Feenstra & Toshiaki Iizuka & Janet Tin Kei Lam & Gabriel M. Leung & Jui-fen Rachel Lu & Beatriz Rodriguez-Sanchez & Jeroen, 2020. "Are quality-adjusted medical prices declining for chronic disease? Evidence from diabetes care in four health systems," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(5), pages 689-702, July.
    7. Heather Kolakowski & Mardelle McCuskey Shepley & Ellie Valenzuela-Mendoza & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2021. "How the COVID-19 Pandemic Will Change Workplaces, Healthcare Markets and Healthy Living: An Overview and Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    8. Lei, Xiaoyan & Song, Guangxiang & Su, Xuejuan, 2021. "Information, Belief, and Health Behavior: Evidence from China," Working Papers 2021-9, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    9. Oikawa, M., 2020. "The effect of education on health policy reform: Evidence from Japan," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 20/08, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    10. Guo, Audrey & Zhang, Jonathan, 2019. "What to expect when you are expecting: Are health care consumers forward-looking?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Masato Oikawa, 2024. "The role of education in health policy reform outcomes: evidence from Japan," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 25(1), pages 49-76, February.
    12. David, Guy & Smith-McLallen, Aaron & Ukert, Benjamin, 2019. "The effect of predictive analytics-driven interventions on healthcare utilization," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 68-79.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gaggero, Alessio & Gil, Joan & Jiménez-Rubio, Dolores & Zucchelli, Eugenio, 2022. "Does health information affect lifestyle behaviours? The impact of a diabetes diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    2. Rebecca M. Myerson & Reginald D. Tucker‐Seeley & Dana P. Goldman & Darius N. Lakdawalla, 2020. "Does Medicare Coverage Improve Cancer Detection and Mortality Outcomes?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(3), pages 577-604, June.
    3. Kämpfen, F.; & Gómez-Olivé, X.; & O’Donnell, O.; & Riumallo Herl, C.;, 2023. "Effectiveness of Population-Based Hypertension Screening: A Multidimensional Regression Discontinuity Design," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 23/15, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    4. Peter Leopold S. Bergman & Matthew J. Hill, 2015. "The Effects of Making Performance Information Public: Evidence from Los Angeles Teachers and a Regression Discontinuity Design," CESifo Working Paper Series 5383, CESifo.
    5. Mattan Alalouf & Sarah Miller & Laura R. Wherry, 2019. "What Difference Does a Diagnosis Make? Evidence from Marginal Patients," NBER Working Papers 26363, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. ZHAO Meng & YIN Ting & SEKIZAWA Yoichi, 2023. "Make Behavioral Changes for a Healthier Liver? Evidence from a liver function test in Japan," Discussion papers 23010, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Kim, Hyuncheol Bryant & Lee, Suejin & Lim, Wilfredo, 2017. "Knowing Is Not Half the Battle: Impacts of the National Health Screening Program in Korea," IZA Discussion Papers 10650, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Adam C. Sales & Ben B. Hansen, 2020. "Limitless Regression Discontinuity," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 45(2), pages 143-174, April.
    9. Masato Oikawa, 2024. "The role of education in health policy reform outcomes: evidence from Japan," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 25(1), pages 49-76, February.
    10. Tiantian Dai & Shenyi Jiang & Xiangbo Liu & Ang Sun, 2022. "The effects of a hypertension diagnosis on health behaviors: A two‐dimensional regression discontinuity analysis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 574-596, April.
    11. Eric Brunner & Shaun Dougherty & Stephen Ross, 2019. "The Effects of Career and Technical Education: Evidence from the Connecticut Technical High School System," Working Papers 2019-047, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    12. Luciana Juvenal & Paulo Santos Monteiro, 2021. "Risky Gravity," Discussion Papers 21/02, Department of Economics, University of York.
    13. Gaggero, A. & Gil, J. & Jiménez-Rubio, D. & Zucchelli, E., 2021. "Health information and lifestyle behaviours: the impact of a diabetes diagnosis," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 21/02, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    14. Bovay, John, 2021. "Moral hazard under discrete information disclosure: Evidence from food-safety inspections," 2021 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting (Virtual), January 3-5, 2021, San Diego, California 307948, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Christian Leuz & Peter D. Wysocki, 2016. "The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 525-622, May.
    16. De Paola, Maria & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2015. "Procrastination, academic success and the effectiveness of a remedial program," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 217-236.
    17. Anell, Anders & Dietrichson, Jens & Ellegård, Lina Maria & Kjellsson, Gustav, 2022. "Well-Informed Choices? Effects of Information Interventions in Primary Care on Care Quality," Working Papers 2022:2, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    18. Syon P. Bhanot & Christina A. Roberto & Anjali Chainani & Charles Williamson & Mehra den Braven, 2019. "Testing effects of loss framing and checklists: evidence from a field experiment on wellness program participation in Philadelphia," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 5(2), pages 210-222, December.
    19. Jörg Peters & Jörg Langbein & Gareth Roberts, 2018. "Generalization in the Tropics – Development Policy, Randomized Controlled Trials, and External Validity," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 34-64.
    20. Li, Teng & Lu, Runjing, 2022. "Social undermining as a dark side of symbolic awards: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health; Signals; Information; Value; Prevention; Diabetes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:195:y:2021:i:c:s0047272721000049. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505578 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.