Time: 2019/9/20 10:08:00
Abstract: Monetary cost is emphasized in health economics literature but time cost is largely ignored. This paper investigates how time cost affects the healthcare usage in both China and the US. Using the retirement age policy in both countries, I employ a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) and find that the level of hospitalization persistently increases after retirement age. Specifically, a 10 percentage points lower employment is significantly associated with 1.6-3.8 percentage points higher in hospitalization. In addition, the effects are significant among high education people but not in low education group. Finally, eligible people do more physical exercise and have higher healthcare expenditure after retirement age. These results provide a more comprehensive picture of moral hazard and add up to the growing literature about retirement and time use in economics.