The Returns to Nursing: Evidence from a Parental Leave Program
Nurses comprise the largest health profession. In this paper, we measure the effect of nurses on health care delivery and patient health outcomes across sectors. Our empirical strategy takes advantage of a parental leave program, which led to a sudden, unintended, and persistent 12% reduction in nurse employment. Our findings indicate detrimental effects on hospital care delivery as indicated by an increase in 30-day readmission rates and a distortion of technology utilization. The effects for nursing home care are more drastic. We estimate a persistent 13% increase in nursing home mortality among the elderly aged 85 and older. Our results also highlight an unintended negative consequence of parental leave programs borne by providers and patients.
Non-Technical Summaries
- Nurses are the largest group of health professionals in the United States, with 3.4 million employed licensed nurses making...
Published Versions
Benjamin U Friedrich & Martin B Hackmann & Uta Schoenberg, 2021. "The Returns to Nursing: Evidence from a Parental-Leave Program," The Review of Economic Studies, vol 88(5), pages 2308-2343.
Related
Mentioned in the News
More from NBER
In addition to working papers, the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter, the NBER Digest, the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability, the Bulletin on Health, and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship — as well as online conference reports, video lectures, and interviews.
