Political divisions are increasingly affecting policy-making, but how are they affecting professional decision-making? This paper studies the differences in medical practice between Republican and Democratic physicians from 1999-2019. It links doctors to Medicare claims data and their campaign contributions to determine their group affiliation. In 1999, there was no difference between long-term medical expenses. In 2019, Republican doctors are now spending 13% more, or $70 per year per patient. We analyze four potential sources of these partial differences: practice characteristics (ie, specialty and location), patient composition, financial benefit preferences, and beliefs about appropriate care. Even among doctors of the same level and location who treat patients of the same condition, Republican doctors spend 6% more, especially in elective procedures. By using a cross-sectional design, we also find significant differences in the proportion of treatments for the same patient. We find no evidence that these partisan differences are driven by profit motives. Instead, the evidence points to different beliefs. Republican doctors adhere less to clinical guidelines, which is consistent with their beliefs reported in previous surveys. The time to divide is like the politicization of evidence-based medicine in Congress. These results suggest that political differences may lead to group differences in employee beliefs and behaviors.
That comes from a labor market paper by Woojin Kim of UC Berkeley. I found this one of the most interesting job market papers this year.
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