Robinson Sarah, Royer Heather, Silver David
Claremont McKenna College.
UC Santa Barbara & IZA & NBER.
J Labor Econ. 2024 Apr;42(Suppl 1):S219-S259. doi: 10.1086/728804.
Analyzing data spanning three decades covering the near universe of births, we study county-level differences in Cesarean section (C-section) rates among first-time mothers of singleton births. Our research reveals persistent geographic variation in C-section rates for both low- and high-risk groups. Counties with elevated C-section rates consistently perform more C-sections across mothers at all levels of appropriateness for the procedure. These elevated rates of C-section in high C-section counties are associated with reduced maternal and infant morbidity. We also find that C-section decisions are less responsive to underlying risks for Black mothers relative to white mothers, suggesting potential welfare-reducing disparities.
通过分析涵盖近三十年单胎初产妇出生情况的全部数据，我们研究了县级剖宫产（C -section）率的差异。我们的研究揭示了低风险和高风险群体的剖宫产率在地理上存在持续差异。剖宫产率较高的县在该手术所有适用水平的产妇中，剖宫产手术量始终更高。这些高剖宫产率县的剖宫产率升高与母婴发病率降低相关。我们还发现，相对于白人母亲，黑人母亲的剖宫产决策对潜在风险的反应较小，这表明存在可能降低福利的差异。
