Externalities in hospitals and physician adoption of a new surgical technology: An exploratory analysis
研究医院中首位采用腹腔镜胆囊切除术的医生如何通过信息和成本外部性影响其他医生的采用行为，发现信息获取和医院外部性加速了该技术的扩散。
Much recent work on the economics of new technology adoption has investigated the roles of information and externalities. However, studies of technology adoption by physicians have not addressed these issues. This paper examines the adoption by general surgeons of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a new surgical procedure which was introduced in 1989. The paper addresses the informational and cost externalities which may be generated when the first surgeon in a hospital adopts a new procedure. The findings suggest that access to information about laparoscopic cholecystectomy influenced surgeons' adoption behavior, and that externalities in hospitals may have hastened the diffusion of the procedure.