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Modeling Inter-Regional Patient Mobility: Does Distance Go Far Enough?

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  • Michael Irlacher
  • Dieter Pennerstorfer
  • Anna-Theresa Renner
  • Florian Unger

Abstract

This paper estimates a theory-guided gravity equation of regional patient flows. In our model, a patient’s choice to consult a physician in a particular region depends on a measure of spatial accessibility that accounts for the exact locations of both patients and physicians. Introducing this concept in a spatial economics model, we derive an augmented gravity-type equation and show that our measure of accessibility performs better in explaining patient flows than bilateral distance. We conduct a rich set of counterfactual simulations, illustrating that the effects of physicians’ market exits on patient mobility crucially depend on their exact locations.

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  • Michael Irlacher & Dieter Pennerstorfer & Anna-Theresa Renner & Florian Unger, 2021. "Modeling Inter-Regional Patient Mobility: Does Distance Go Far Enough?," CESifo Working Paper Series 8998, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8998
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    2. Andreas Steinmayr & Manuel Rossi, 2022. "Vaccine-skeptic physicians and COVID-19 vaccination rates," Working Papers 2022-16, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gravity model; patient mobility; spatial accessibility; two-step floating catchment areas (2SFCA);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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