Empirical Studies on Physician Supply in Japan

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23330078
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Applied economics
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: IIZUKA Toshiaki 東京大学, 経済学研究科(研究院), 教授 (00406810)
• Research Collaborator: WATANABE Yasutora 香港科学技術大学, 准教授
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 医師不足 / 医師偏在 / キャリア設計 / 動学構造推計 / 医療経済

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Using panel data covering all physicians in Japan, we conducted two studies on physician supply in Japan. First, we estimated a dynamic structural model of physician career choice and found that competition among clinics plays a key role in determining when hospital physicians open his/her own clinic. We also found that physicians accumulate human capital while they work as a hospital physician in their early career. Second, we estimated the impact of the new residency program introduced in 2004 and found that the new program decreased the effective supply of hospital physicians in some rural area where local hospitals had relied on university hospitals for filling physician positions. We also found evidence that the new residency program has led hospitals to exit those rural areas and negatively affected patient health outcomes in those markets.

Free Research Field

Health Economics