How Do Firms Respond to Changes in Scope of Practice Regulations? Evidence from Dental Practices
35 Pages Posted: 26 Apr 2022
Abstract
State regulations that restrict the tasks that workers with specific credentials are allowed to perform may affect a firm’s input choices, output, productivity, and what part of the market the firm serves. Using dental practice survey data from 1989 to 2014 and a stacked difference-in- differences design, this paper examines the effects of state level scope of practice regulations on the behavior and structure of dental practices. Results suggest that scope of practice deregulation is associated with higher staffing levels, fewer dentist visits per week, lower patient wait times, lower dentist net income and an increased likelihood of treating lower revenue generating publicly insured patients. There is weak evidence that scope of practice deregulation changes practice size or alters a dental firm’s capital inputs.
Keywords: Occupational licensing, Scope of practice, Dental care, Labor market regulation, Dental workforce, Work tasks, Quasi-experimental research methods
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