Plausibly Exogenous [1351] - Medical Gender Match (10/13/2023)
LHS Variable
Medical evaluations and associated disability benefits
RHS Variable
Gender match between doctors and patients
Source of Exogenous Variation
Random assignment of doctors to patients occurs in this setting through the dispute resolution process. Insurers and injured workers may request independent medical evaluations to settle disputes over an injured worker’s impairment level. Medical doctors (MD), doctors of osteopathy (DO), and doctors of chiropractic (DC) can all apply through the Texas Department of Insurance to be included in the list of independent doctors eligible to perform these evaluations. Conditional on the injured worker’s county, assignment of an injured worker to a doctor is random among doctors with the same credentials (i.e., MD, DO, and DC).
- Cabral and Dillender (2023), “Gender Differences in Medical Evaluation: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Doctors”