Minding the Shop: The Case of Obstetrics Conferences

Gans, Joshua S.; Leigh, Andrew; Varganova, Elena

doi:10.2139/ssrn.948890

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…, 2004; Gans & Leigh, 2008). In addition, it has been shown that the number of births declines during annual obstetricians’ conferences in Australia and the United States (Gans et al. , 2007).…”

Section: Medical and Economic Evidence On Birth Timingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bargaining Over Labour: Do Patients Have Any Power?*

Gans

Leigh

2011

Economic Record

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We provide a new method of identifying the level of relative bargaining power in bilateral negotiations using exogenous variation in the degree of conflict between parties. Using daily births data, we study negotiations over birth timing. In doing so, we exploit the fact that fewer children are born on the ‘inauspicious’ dates of February 29 and April 1; most likely, we argue, reflecting parental preferences. When these inauspicious dates abut a weekend, this creates a potential conflict between avoiding the inauspicious date (the parents’ likely preference), and avoiding the weekend (the doctor’s likely preference). Using daily births data, we estimate how often this conflict is resolved in favour of the physician. We show how this provides an estimate of how bargaining power is distributed between patients and physicians.

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Section: Medical and Economic Evidence On Birth Timingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bargaining Over Labour: Do Patients Have Any Power?*

Gans

Leigh

2011

Economic Record

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“…More broadly, birth shifting has been identified by parents seeking to avoid inauspicious days and care providers wishing to avoid weekends, public holidays and conferences; see Gans and Leigh () and Gans et al . ().…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Baby Bonuses: Natural Experiments in Cash Transfers, Birth Timing and Child Outcomes

Deutscher

Breunig

2017

Economic Record

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We use the 1 July 2004 introduction of the Australian Baby Bonus to identify the effect of family income on child test scores at grade three. Using a difference‐in‐differences design, we find no evidence that the Baby Bonus improved child outcomes in aggregate, but some evidence of a modest effect for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We examine whether birth shifting associated with the Baby Bonus and two other Australian maternity payments had negative long‐term effects on children. Despite widespread concerns about this unintended treatment, regression discontinuity estimates provide no clear evidence of lasting health or educational consequences.

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“…Previous research has found short-term manipulations to achieve desired dates of delivery among non-Chinese. Births drop 2-4% during obstetrics conferences (Gans et al, 2007), suggesting accommodation of physician schedules.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Auspicious birth dates among Chinese in California

Almond

Chee²,

Sviatschi

et al. 2015

Economics & Human Biology

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The number eight is considered lucky in Chinese culture, e.g. the Beijing Olympics began at 8:08 pm on 8/8/2008. Given the potential for discretion in selecting particular dates of labor induction or scheduled Cesarean section (C-section), we consider whether Chinese-American births in California occur disproportionately on the 8th, 18th, or 28th day of the month. We find 2.3% "too many" Chinese births on these auspicious birth dates, whereas Whites show no corresponding increase. The increase in Chinese births is driven by higher parity C-sections: the number of repeat C-sections is 6% "too high" on auspicious birth dates. Sons born to Chinese parents account for the entire increase; daughter deliveries do not seem to be timed to achieve "lucky" birth dates. We also find avoidance of repeat C-section deliveries on the 4th, 14th, and 24th of the month, considered unlucky in Chinese culture. Finally, we replicate earlier work finding that Friday the 13th delivery dates are avoided and document a particularly large decrease among Chinese. For Whites and Chinese in California, mothers with higher levels of education are particularly likely to avoid delivering on the 13th.

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Minding the Shop: The Case of Obstetrics Conferences

Cited by 10 publications

References 17 publications

Bargaining Over Labour: Do Patients Have Any Power?*

Bargaining Over Labour: Do Patients Have Any Power?*

Baby Bonuses: Natural Experiments in Cash Transfers, Birth Timing and Child Outcomes

Auspicious birth dates among Chinese in California

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