TY  - JOUR
AU  - Epstein,Andrew
AU  - Ketcham,Jonathan D.
AU  - Nicholson,Sean
TI  - Professional Partnerships and Matching in Obstetrics
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14070
PY  - 2008
Y2  - June 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14070
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14070.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Andrew Epstein
Division of General Internal Medicine
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
423 Guardian Dr
1001 Blockley Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Tel: 215-746-7992
E-Mail: eandrew@mail.med.upenn.edu

Jonathan D. Ketcham
Associate Professor
Department of Marketing, Box 4106
W.P. Carey School of Business
Arizona State University
300 E. Lemon Street
Tempe, AZ 85287-4106
E-Mail: ketcham@asu.edu

Sean Nicholson
Professor
Department of Policy Analysis and Management
Cornell University
102 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
Tel: 607/254-6498
Fax: 607/255-4071
E-Mail: sn243@cornell.edu
AB  - Theory indicates that internally-differentiated professional partnerships can promote matching between heterogeneous consumers and professionals, particularly when consumers have imperfect information or markets have barriers to referrals between firms. We test this in obstetrics markets, relying on random assignment of patients to physicians to generate unbiased measures of a physician's treatment style and skill, and on simulations to measure a physician's specialization. Consumers match to professionals along all three dimensions -- specialization, style and skill -- based on consumers' observed characteristics and unobserved preferences. We conclude that internally-differentiated partnerships promote matching in ways that improve consumers' welfare and health.
ER  -