Outside options and worker motivation with Alexander Ahammer & Matthias Fahn
Revise and resubmit at the AEJ: Applied Economics
Abstract An important driver of the value of an employment relationship is the worker's outside option, which contains their potential payoff when becoming unemployed. While the link between outside options and worker motivation has theoretically been explored for decades, causal empirical evidence remains scarce. We exploit age and experience cutoffs in potential unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in Austria to identify changes in outside options. Using administrative employment records, we find that workers eligible for a 9-week benefit extension take significantly longer sick leaves than ineligible workers, which we interpret as a decrease in effort.
The labor and health economics of breast cancer with Alexander Ahammer & Gerald Pruckner
Abstract We estimate the long-run labor market and health effects of breast cancer among Austrian women. Compared to a random sample of same-aged non-affected women, those diagnosed with breast cancer face a 22.8 percent increase in health expenses, 6.2 percent lower employment, and a wage penalty of 15 percent five years after diagnosis. Although affected women sort into higher quality jobs post-diagnosis, this is offset by a reduction in working hours. We argue that the hours reduction is more likely driven by an increase in the time preference rate, meaning that patients increasingly value the present over the future, rather than by an incapacitation effect or employer discrimination.
When women take over: Physician gender and health care provision with Gerald Pruckner & Katrin Zocher
Journal of Health Economics, forthcoming
Best paper award of the 2nd CINCH-dggö Academy in Health Economics
Abstract The share of female physicians has risen in OECD countries in recent decades, but we know little about the effects of physician gender on patient health care use. We exploit quasi-random assignment of primary care providers (PCPs) to existing PCP practices and patients and estimate the causal effect of female PCPs on health care provision. Using Austrian register data and a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that female PCPs generate 15% less revenue and see 7% fewer patients than male PCPs. Shifting the focus to patient-level outcomes, we observe that health care utilization remains largely unchanged following assignment to a female physician. However, results show that patients are more likely to leave PCP practices with female successors. Our results do not support the idea that the decision to change PCP is driven by preferences against being treated by female physicians. Instead, our analysis suggests that the observed differences are partly explained by female PCPs working fewer hours, especially those facing working time restrictions. As the share of female physicians continues to rise, measures to increase work flexibility may be necessary to maintain broad access to outpatient health care.
Leadership, knowledge management, and performance in organizations with Anik Ashraf & Matthias Fahn