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Do Rural Incentives Payments Affect Entries and Exits of General Practitioners?

Author

Listed:
  • Jongsay Yong

    (Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, The University of Melbourne)

  • Anthony Scott

    (Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, The University of Melbourne)

  • Hugh Gravelle

    (University of York, Centre for Health Economics)

  • Peter Mathew Sivey

    (RMIT University - School of Economics, Finance and Marketing; La Trobe University - Faculty of Business, Economics and Law; University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research)

  • Matthew McGrail

    (Gippsland Medical School, Monash University)

Abstract

Many countries use financial incentive programs to attract physicians to work in rural areas. This paper examines the effectiveness of a policy reform in Australia that made some locations newly eligible for financial incentives and increased incentives for locations already eligible. The analysis uses panel data (2008 to 2014) on all Australian general practitioners (GPs) aggregated to small areas. We use a difference-in-differences approach to examine if the policy change affected GP entry or exit to the 755 newly eligible locations and the 787 always eligible locations relative to 2,249 locations which were never eligible. The policy change increased the entry of newly-qualified GPs to newly eligible locations but had no effect on the entry and exit of other GPs. Our results suggest that location incentives should be targeted at newly qualified GPs.

Suggested Citation

  • Jongsay Yong & Anthony Scott & Hugh Gravelle & Peter Mathew Sivey & Matthew McGrail, 2018. "Do Rural Incentives Payments Affect Entries and Exits of General Practitioners?," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2018n13, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2018n13
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Karinna Saxby & Yuting Zhang, 2025. "Do Rurality‐Based Financial Incentives Improve Equity of Primary Healthcare Access? Evidence From Australia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(9), pages 1679-1690, September.
    3. Probst, Markus, 2021. "Ohne Moos nichts los? Eine Discrete-Choice-Analyse der Präferenzen von Medizinstudenten für die Arbeit auf dem Land [No Mon, No Fun? A Discrete Choice Analysis of the Preferences of Medical Students for Work on the Countryside]," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 6(3), pages 507-546.
    4. Anders Anell & Margareta Dackehag & Jens Dietrichson & Lina Maria Ellegård & Gustav Kjellsson, 2025. "Better off by risk adjustment? Socioeconomic disparities in care utilization in Sweden following a payment reform," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 836-868, June.
    5. Swami, Megha & Scott, Anthony, 2021. "Impact of rural workforce incentives on access to GP services in underserved areas: Evidence from a natural experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    6. Anthony Scott & Peter Sivey, 2022. "Motivation and competition in health care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 1695-1712, August.
    7. Chevillard, Guillaume & Mousquès, Julien, 2021. "Medically underserved areas: are primary care teams efficient at attracting and retaining general practitioners?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy
    • L88 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Government Policy

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