Does Practice Make Perfect: An Empirical Analysis of Learning-by-Doing in Cardiac Surgery

Abstract

This paper examines a mechanism through which workers acquire and maintain competence: task experience. I analyze whether cardiac surgeons who have performed more procedures in the recent past experience an improvement in performance. I use an instrumental variables method that considers exogenous shocks to the procedure volume of CABG surgeons in Florida caused by the exit of other surgeons from the same hospital. I find evidence indicating a strong learning-by-doing effect: performing an additional procedure reduces the probability of patient mortality by 0.14%. This benefit is lower for high volume surgeons, and is partly specific to firm and task settings.

Keywords: Learning-by-Doing, Specific human capital, Cardiac surgery

JEL Classification: I10, J24, J44