This Is AuburnElectronic Theses and Dissertations

Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform: Effects on the Death Rate, a 2004 Cross-Sectional Analysis

Date

2009-07-30

Author

Gibson, James

Type of Degree

thesis

Department

Economics

Abstract

This thesis scrutinizes the effects that tort reform, health expenditures per capita, and the median malpractice payment per state has on the age-adjusted death rate. The data is from 2004 and was collected for each state. Different models are used to find the determinants of the age adjusted death rate, health expenditures per capita, and the median malpractice payment per state. Then two stage least squares is used to compensate for simultaneity and improve the quality of the results. The analysis shows that tort reforms have a statistically significant impact on reducing the age adjusted death rate, while the median malpractice payment and health expenditures do not.