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First Do No Harm?: Tort Reform and Birth Outcomes

Janet Currie
Columbia University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics; University of California, Los Angeles - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

W. Bentley MacLeod
Columbia University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

August 2006

NBER Working Paper No. W12478

Abstract:
We examine the impact of tort reforms using U.S. birth records for 1989-2001. We make four contributions: First, we develop a model that analyzes the incentives created by specific tort reforms. Second, we assemble new data on tort reform. Third, we examine a range of outcomes. Finally, we allow for differential effects by demographic/risk group. We find that reforms of the "deep pockets rule" reduce complications of labor and C-sections, while caps on noneconomic damages increase them. Our results demonstrate there are important interactions between incentives created by tort law and other incentives facing physicians.

Working Paper Series

Date posted: August 30, 2006 ; Last revised: February 11, 2009

Suggested Citation

Currie, Janet and MacLeod, W. Bentley, First Do No Harm?: Tort Reform and Birth Outcomes (August 2006). NBER Working Paper Series, Vol. w12478, pp. -, 2006. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=926057

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Contact Information

Janet Currie (Contact Author) Columbia University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics ( email ) 420 W. 118th Street New York, NY 10027 United States
University of California, Los Angeles - Department of Economics ( email ) Box 951477 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1477 United States 310-206-8380 (Phone) 310-825-9528 (Fax)
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 United States
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) P.O. Box 7240 D-53072 Bonn Germany
William Bentley MacLeod Columbia University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics ( email ) 420 W. 118th Street New York, NY 10027 United States
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 United States
CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research) Poschinger Str. 5 DE-81679 Munich Germany