Free to Choose? Reform, Choice, and Consideration Sets in the English National Health Service
利用英国国家医疗服务体系的一项改革，研究取消患者选择限制的影响，发现患者对医疗质量更敏感，降低了死亡率并提高了福利，医院也因激励增强而提升质量。
Choice in public services is controversial. We exploit a reform in the English National Health Service to assess the effect of removing constraints on patient choice. We estimate a demand model that explicitly captures the removal of the choice constraints imposed on patients. We find that, post-removal, patients became more responsive to clinical quality. This led to a modest reduction in mortality and a substantial increase in patient welfare. The elasticity of demand faced by hospitals increased substantially post-reform and we find evidence that hospitals responded to the enhanced incentives by improving quality. This suggests greater choice can raise quality.