Abstract
Exploiting the Danish roll-out of same-day discharge policies after uncomplicated births, we find that treated newborns have a higher probability of hospital readmission in the first month after birth. While these short-run effects may indicate substitution of hospital stays with readmissions, we also find that—in the longer run—a same-day discharge decreases children's 9th grade GPA. This effect is driven by children and mothers, who prior to the policy change would have been least likely to experience a same-day discharge. Using administrative and survey data to assess potential mechanisms, we show that a same-day discharge impacts those parents’ health investments and their children's medium-run health. Our findings point to important negative effects of policies that expand same-day discharge policies to broad populations of mothers and children.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 121-138 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Journal of Health Economics |
Volume | 55 |
Early online date | 4 Jul 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2017 |
Research Groups and Themes
- ECON Applied Economics
- ECON CEPS Health
Keywords
- ECON Applied Economics
- ECON CEPS Health