The Norms Hypothesis and the Demand for Medical Care

Joseph P. Newhouse, M. Susan Marquis

ResearchPublished 1980

The "norms hypothesis," adopted by some researchers in the health care fields, holds that physicians treat patients according to the average or modal insurance coverage in an area, and not on the basis of individual patient's coverage. If the hypothesis is true, a demand equation estimated from a cross section of patients with different insurance will understate the effect of health insurance legislation (e.g., a national health insurance plan) that changes the average coverage. The authors argue that (1) the single study in the literature supporting the norms hypothesis is suspect in its specification, and (2) when a theoretically more appropriate specification is used, the results give no support to the hypothesis.

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  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 1980
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 35
  • Paperback Price: $20.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 978-0-8330-0226-6
  • Document Number: R-2289-HEW

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RAND Style Manual
Newhouse, Joseph P. and M. Susan Marquis, The Norms Hypothesis and the Demand for Medical Care, RAND Corporation, R-2289-HEW, 1980. As of September 20, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R2289.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Newhouse, Joseph P. and M. Susan Marquis, The Norms Hypothesis and the Demand for Medical Care. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1980. https://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R2289.html. Also available in print form.
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