Study Overview
This project studies how physician incentives, oversight, and enforcement affect the use of physician-certified paid sick leave in Chile. Using large-scale administrative records linking medical leave certificates to physicians and patients, the research examines how doctors respond to regulatory scrutiny and sanctions, and how these responses affect patients’ subsequent use of sick leave. More broadly, the project studies the role of physician discretion in social insurance programs in which access to benefits depends on medical certification. It examines whether enforcement changes certification behavior, whether patients substitute toward other physicians when access to leave becomes more restrictive, and how these responses shape the effectiveness of policies intended to control inappropriate use while preserving access to medically justified leave. The project combines population-level administrative data with quasi-experimental research designs to provide evidence on provider behavior, patient responses, and the design of monitoring and enforcement in paid sick-leave systems.
Study Results
Pending.