Empirical Health Law Conference
About
This annual conference brings together scholars from law, economics, public health and medicine to discuss empirical research at the intersection of these fields.
Organizers
Since 2023, this annual conference is co-organized by Michael Frakes (Duke University School of Law) and Jetson Leder-Luis (Boston University Questrom School of Business). Michael Frakes and Kathy Zeiler (Boston University School of Law) organized conferences held 2009-2022.
The 16th annual conference will be held in 2025 at Boston University Questrom School of Business in Spring, 2025.
Past Conference Agendas
15th Annual: Duke University School of Law (2024)
Disadvantaging Rivals: Vertical Integration in the Pharmaceutical Market
Presenter: Abby Alpert, University of Pennsylvania
Commentator: Emily Cuddy, Duke University
Do Physicians Follow the Golden Rule? Evidence of Imperfect Agency and Moral Hazard from Physicians’ Self-Prescriptions
Presenter: Mariana Carrera, Montana State University
Commentator: Yiqun Chen, University of Illinois Chicago
The Productivity of Professions: Evidence from the Emergency Department
Presenter: Yiqun Chen, University of Illinois Chicago
Commentator: Ben McMichael, University of Alabama
The Economics of Health Care Fraud
Presenter: Jetson Leder-Luis, Boston University
Commentator: Elissa Philip Gentry, Florida State University
Is a Dollar in Need a Dollar Indeed? Optimal Tax Policy when Health Differs
Presenter: Ana Vasilj, University of Chicago
Commentator: Shu-Yi Oei, Duke University
Sharing is Caring: Does Organ Allocation Policy Work?
Presenter: Ben McMichael, University of Alabama
Commentator: Andy Yuan, Northwestern University
14th Annual: Boston University Questrom School of Business (2023)
Legal Representation in Disability Claims
Presenter: Nicole Maestas, Harvard Health Care Policy
Discussant: Tal Gross, Boston University Questrom School of Business
Profit Sharing & Patient Steering: Joint Ventures in Dialysis
Presenter: Paul Eliason, BYU Econ
Discussant: Jetson Leder-Luis, Boston University Questrom School of Business
Recreational Marijuana Dispensaries and Fatal Car Crashes
Presenter: Theo Caputi, MIT Econ
Discussant: Kathy Zeiler, Boston University Questrom School of Business
Public Investment and Health Care Quality: Evidence from Rural Hospital Subsidies
Presenter: Caitlin Carrol, Minnesota School of Public Health
Discussant: Joe Doyle, MIT Sloan
Gender Concordance and Quality of Care: Evidence from Patients with the First Heart Attack
Presenter: Ye Andy Yuan, Northwestern Law
Discussant: Kristin Madison, Northeastern Law
Provider Supply and Access to Specialty Care
Presenter: Steven Pizer, Boston University School of Public Health
Discussant: Alon Bergman, UPenn Perelman School of Medicine and Wharton
13th Annual: Duke University School of Law (2022)
Do Conflicts of Interests Disclosures Work? Evidence from Citations in Medical Journals
Presenter: Anup Malani, Univ. of Chicago Law
Commentator: Elissa Philip Gentry, Florida State Univ. Law
Power Dynamics in the Doctor-Patient Relationship
Presenter: Stephen Schwab, US Army & Baylor Univ. Economics (co-authored with Manasvini Singh, Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst Social Behavioral Sciences)
Commentator: Kate Bundorf, Duke Univ. Public Policy
Blowing the Whistle on Malpractice: Fraud Enforcement as Patient Harm Reduction
Presenter: Vicki Perez, Yale Univ. Public Health
Commentator: Jetson Leder-Luis, Boston Univ. Business
No Penalty, No Problem? Estimating the Effect of Zeroing out the Individual Penalty on Health Insurance Coverage
Presenter: Kye Lippold, U.S. Treasury (co-authored with Jacob Goldin, Ithai Lurie and Vedant Vohra)
Commentator: Kathy Zeiler, Boston Univ. Law
Information Disclosure in the Presence of Competition: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry
Presenter: Jennifer Kao, UCLA Anderson School
Commentator: David Ridley, Duke Univ. Business
Innovation Adoption and Regulation Under Uncertainty: The Case of New Medical Procedures
Presenter: Riley League, PhD Candidate at Duke Univ. Economics
12th Annual: Boston University School of Law (2021)
Trauma at School: The Impacts of Shootings on Students’ Human Capital and Economic Outcomes
Presenter: Molly Schnell, Northwestern Univ. Economics
Commentator: Kathy Zeiler, Boston Univ. Law
Rules v. Discretion: Treatment of Mental Illness in U.S. Adolescents
Presenter: Janet Currie, Princeton Univ. Public and Intl Affairs
Discussant: Michael Ulrich, Boston Univ. Public Health
The Private Provision of Public Services: Evidence from Random Assignment in Medicaid
Presenter: Jacob Wallace, Yale Univ. Public Health
Discussant: Jim Greiner, Harvard Univ. Law
Using Racial Equity Tools To Address the Social Determinants of Health & Systemic Racism
Presenters: Sidney Watson & Ruquaiijah Yearby, Saint Louis Univ. Law
Discussant: Renée Boynton-Jarrett, Boston Univ. Medicine
Accountable Care Organization Policies, Social Risk Screening, and the Impacts on the Im/migrant Community
Presenter: Stephanie Loo, PhD candidate at Boston Univ. Public Health
Discussant: Leo Beletsky, Northeastern Univ. Law and Health Sciences
Rationing Medicine Through Paperwork: Authorization Restrictions in Medicare
Presenter: Zarek Brot-Goldberg, Univ. of Chicago Public Policy
Discussant: Michael Frakes, Duke Univ. Law
11th Annual: Duke University School of Law (2020)
Whistleblowers, The False Claims Act, and the Behavior of Healthcare Providers
Presenter: Jetson Leder-Luis, PhD Candidate at MIT Economics
Commentator: David Howard, Emory Univ. Health Policy and Management
Conditions as Signals: The Expressive Content of Medicaid Work Requirements
Presenter: Kristen Underhill, Columbia Univ. Law
Commentator: Mark Hall, Wake Forest Univ. Law
Strategic Submissions: A Cross-Country Analysis of Supplemental Drug Approvals
Presenter: Elissa Philip Gentry, Florida State Univ. Law (co-authored with Pierre Dubois, Toulouse Economics, and Tuba Tuncel, HEC Montreal Applied Economics)
Commentator: Arti Rai, Duke Univ. Law
Patent Office Reform and Drug Pricing
Presenters: Melissa Wasserman, Univ. of Texas at Austin Law and Michael Frakes, Duke Univ. Law
Commentator: Elissa Philip Gentry, Florida State Univ. Law
How Bundled Payments Affect Firm Behavior and Patient Outcomes: Evidence from the Dialysis Industry
Presenter: Ryan McDevitt, Duke Univ. Business (co-authored with Paul Eliason, BYU Economics, Ben Heebsh, PhD Candidate at Duke Univ. Economics, and Jimmy Roberts, Duke Univ. Economics)
Commentator: Brian McManus, UNC Economics
Physician Response to Malpractice Allegations: Evidence from Florida Emergency Departments Presenter: Caitlin Carroll, Univ. of Minnesota Public Health (co-authored with David Cutler, Harvard Univ. Economics, and Anupam Jena, Harvard Univ. Medical School)
Commentator: Kathy Zeiler, Boston Univ. Law
10th Annual: Boston University School of Law (2019)
Responses to readmissions penalties: What can we learn about hospital behavior?
Presenter: Kevin Griffith, Boston Univ. Public Health
Commentator: Tal Gross, Boston Univ. Business
Firm Entry and Exit from U.S. Generic Prescription Drug Markets, 2009-2016
Presenter: Rena Conti, Boston Univ. Business
Commentator: Michael Frakes, Duke Univ. Law
How Do Low-Income Enrollees in the Affordable Care Act Exchanges Respond to Cost-Sharing?
Presenter: Thomas DeLeire, Georgetown Univ. Public Policy
Commentator: Melissa McInerney, Tufts Univ. Economics
Impact of Lottery vs Fixed Incentive on Health Behavior
Presenter: Bhagyashree Katare, Purdue Univ. Agricultural Economics
Commentator: Kathy Zeiler, Boston Univ. Law
Regulating Opioid Supply in Canada through Insurance Coverage
Presenter: Jill Horwitz, UCLA Law
Commentator: Angela Kilby, Northeastern Univ. Economics
Politics and Health Care Spending in the United States
Presenter: Zack Cooper, Yale Univ. Public Health and Economics
Commentator: Kathleen Carey, Boston Univ. Public Health
9 Duke University School of Law (2018)
Developing Novel Drugs
Presenter: Danielle Li, MIT Sloan (co-authored with Joshua Krieger, Harvard Univ. Business, and Dimitris Papanikolaou, Northwestern Kellogg)
Commentator: Melissa Wasserman, Univ. of Texas at Austin Law
The Indian Health Insurance Experiment: Preliminary Results
Presenter: Anup Malani, Univ. of Chicago Law (co-authored with Gabriella Conti, Univ. College London, Kosuke Imai, Princeton Univ., Cynthia Kinnan, Northwestern Univ., and Alessandra Voena, Univ. of Chicago)
Commentator: Andrés Hincapié, UNC Economics
The Effects of Expert Recommendations on Choice among Prescription Drug Insurance Plans
Presenter: Kate Bundorf, Stanford Univ. Law
Commentator: Kathy Zeiler, Boston Univ. Law
Industry Input in Policymaking: Evidence from Medicare
Presenter: David Chan, Stanford Univ. Law (co-authored with Michael Dickstein, NYU Stern)
Commentator: Michael Frakes, Duke Univ. Law
Patient vs. Provider Incentives in Long Term Care
Presenter: Martin Hackmann, UCLA Economics (co-authored with R. Vincent Pohl, Univ. of Georgia Business)
Commentator: Sally Stearns, UNC Gillings Global Public Health
How does product liability risk affect innovation? Evidence from medical implants
Presenter: Alberto Galasso, Univ. of Toronto Management (co-authored with Hong Luo, Harvard Univ. Business)
Commentator: Arti Rai, Duke Univ. Law
8th Annual: Boston University School of Law (2017)
Marijuana Access and the Demand for Opioids in Medicare Part D
Presenter: Calvin Luscombe, Boston Univ. Economics
Discussant: Michael Frakes, Duke Univ. Law
Ask Your Doctor? Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Pharmaceuticals
Presenter: Amanda Starc, Northwestern Univ. Kellogg
Discussant: Jim Rebitzer, Boston Univ. Business
Defensive Medicine: Evidence from Military Immunity
Presenter: Jonathan Gruber, MIT Economics
Discussant: Randy Ellis, Boston Univ. Economics
Liquidity Constraints and the Value of Insurance
Presenter: Keith Marzilli Ericson, Boston Univ. Business
Discussant: Jacob Bor, Boston Univ. Public Health
Effects of Robust State Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs on Opioid Prescribing and Use
Presenter: Rebecca Haffajee, Univ. of Michigan Public Health
Discussant: Kathy Zeiler, Boston Univ. Law
Self-Insuring Against Liability Risk: Evidence from Physician Home Values in States with Unlimited Homestead Exemptions
Presenter: Eric Helland, Claremont McKenna College Economics and Finance
Discussant: Kristen Madison, Northeastern Univ. Law and Health Sciences
7th Annual: Northwestern University School of Law (2016)
Starving (or Fattening) the Golden Goose: Generic Entry and the Incentives for Early-Stage Pharmaceutical Innovation
Presenter: Matthew Higgins, Georgia Institute of Technology Business
Commentator: Melissa Wasserman, Univ. of Illinois Law
Impact of ACA Medicaid Expansion on Health Behaviors
Presenter: Kosali Simon, Indiana Univ. Public and Environmental Affairs
Commentator: Christopher Robertson, Univ. of Arizona Law
Discretion and Guidelines: Evidence from Warfarin Administration
Presenter: Jason Abaluck, Yale Univ. Management
Commentator: Bernard Black, Northwestern Univ. Law and Kellogg School
Can Public Recognition Protect Public Health? Lessons Learned from the EPA’s Performance Track and OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program
Presenter: Cary Coglianese, Penn Law
Commentator: Kathy Zeiler, Boston Univ. Law
Transparency and Negotiated Prices: The Value of Information in Hospital-Supplier Bargaining
Presenter: Ashley Swanson, Penn Wharton School, Health Care Management Department
Commentator: Matthew Notowidigdo, Northwestern Univ. Economics
A Randomized Field Experiment of Physicians’ Conflict of Interest Disclosures to Patients
Presenter: Christopher Robertson, Univ. of Arizona Law
Commentator: Kyle Rozema, Northwestern Univ. Law
6th Annual: Georgetown University Law Center (2015)
Once Ticketed, Twice Shy? Specific Deterrence from Road Traffic Laws
Presenter: David Studdert, Stanford Univ. Law, Medical School
Discussant: Kathy Zeiler, Georgetown Univ. Law
Physician Self-Referral of Physical Therapy Services for Patients with Low Back Pain: Implications for Use, Types of Treatments Rendered and Expenditures
Presenter: Jean Mitchell, Georgetown Univ. Public Policy
Discussant: Michael Frakes, Northwestern Univ. Law
High Stakes Testing: Chronic Disease Management in Low Resource Settings
Presenter: Jacob Bor, Boston Univ. Global Health and Center for Global Health & Development
Discussant: Joshua Teitelbaum, Georgetown Univ. Law
How do Electronic Cigarettes affect Adolescent Smoking?
Presenter: Abigail Friedman, Yale Univ. Public Health
Discussant: Susan Yeh, George Mason Univ. Law
Nursing Home Pay-for-Performance: An Evaluation of the Nursing Home Value-Based Purchasing Demonstration
Presenter: David Grabowski, Harvard Univ. Medical School, Health Care Policy
Discussant: Louise Sheiner, Brookings Institution
Exit and Re-Entry Under Medicaid Premiums: Evidence From Wisconsin
Presenter: Laura Dague, Texas A&M Univ. Bush School of Government & Public Service
Discussant: Nicholas Papageorge, Johns Hopkins Univ. Economics
5th Annual: Cornell Law School (2014)
Adverse Selection and an Individual Mandate: When Theory Meets Practice
Presenter: Jonathan Kolstad, Penn Wharton School, Health Care Management
Commentator: Nicolas Ziebarth, Cornell Univ. Policy Analysis and Management
The Effect of Health Insurance on Near-Elderly Health and Mortality
Presenter: Bernard Black, Northwestern Univ. Law, Kellogg School
Commentator: Seth Seabury, Univ. of Southern California Emergency Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine, Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy
Operation and Effects of Communication-and-Resolution Programs in Hospitals
Presenter: Michelle Mello, Harvard Univ. Public Health, Health Policy and Management
Commentator: Kathryn Zeiler, Georgetown Univ. Law
Mortality and treatment patterns among patients hospitalized with acute cardiovascular conditions during dates of national cardiology meetings
Presenter: Anupam B. Jena, Harvard Univ. Medicine, Health Care Policy
Commentator: David Chan, Stanford Univ. Medicine, Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research
Do Policies Affect Preferences? Evidence from Random Variation in Abortion Jurisprudence
Presenter: Susan Yeh, George Mason Univ. Law
Commentator: Katherine Litvak, Northwestern Univ. Law
Clocking Out: Shift Work in the Emergency Department
Presenter: David Chan, Stanford Univ. Medicine, Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research
Commentator: Anupam B. Jena, Harvard Univ. Medicine, Health Care Policy
4th Annual: Georgetown University Law Center (2013)
Health Insurance Mandates, Mammography, and Breast Cancer Diagnoses
Presenter: Marianne Bitler, Univ. of California-Irvine Economics
Discussant: Kathy Zeiler, Georgetown Univ. Law
Punishment and Deterrence: Evidence from Drunk Driving
Presenter: Benjamin Hansen, Univ. of Oregon Economics
Discussant: Josh Teitelbaum, Georgetown Univ. Law
Medical Leave-Taking after the FMLA: An Empirical Analysis of Affirmative Employment Rights
Presenter: Christopher Griffin, William & Mary Law
Discussant: Christine Eibner, RAND, Washington DC
Does Federal Spending ‘Coerce’ States? Evidence from State Budgets
Presenter: Brian Galle, Boston College Law
Discussant: Jack Hoadley, Georgetown Univ., Health Policy Institute
Churning under the ACA and State Policy Options for Mitigation
Presenter: Austin Nichols, Urban Institute, Washington DC
Discussant: Andrew Zeitlin, Georgetown Univ. Public Policy Institute
The Effect of Product and Nutrient-Specific Taxes on Shopping Behavior and Nutrition: Evidence from Scanner Data
Presenter: Matthew Harding, Stanford Univ. Economics
Discussant: Michael Frakes, Cornell Univ. Law
3rd Annual: Cornell Law School (2012)
Mandate-Based Health Reform and the Labor Market: Evidence from the Massachusetts Reform
Presenter: Amanda Kowalski, Yale Univ. Economics
Commentator: Samuel Kleiner, Cornell Univ. Policy Analysis and Management
Unintended consequences of products liability: Evidence from the pharmaceutical market
Presenter: Seth Seabury, RAND Corporation
Commentator: Michael Frakes, Cornell Univ. Law
Can “Disclosure-and-Offer” Programs Reduce Utilization Without Raising Mortality?
Presenter: Lorens Helmchen, George Mason Univ. Health Admin. and Policy
Commentator: Sean Nicholson, Cornell Univ. Policy Analysis and Management
The Causal Effect of Fetal Alcohol Exposure on Height: Evidence from State Prohibition Laws
Presenter: Jonathan Klick, Penn Law
Commentator: John Cawley, Cornell Univ. Policy Analysis and Management
Endogeneity or Anticipation? Evidence from the Effect of Tort Reform on Physician Supply
Presenter: Anup Malani, Univ. of Chicago Law
Commentator: Kathryn Zeiler, Georgetown Univ. Law
Drug Patent Settlements: An Empirical Analysis
Presenter: Bhaven Sampat, Columbia Univ., Mailman School of Public Health, Health Policy and Management
Commentator: Michael Heise, Cornell Univ. Law
2nd Annual: Georgetown University Law Center (2011)
The Impact of Financial Incentives on Hospitals that Serve Poor Patients
Presenter: Ashish Jha, Harvard Univ. Public Health
Commentator: Wally Mullin, George Washington Univ. Economics
Impact of a Pay-for-Performance Program on Care for Minority Patients with Hypertension: Important Answers in the Era of the Affordable Care Act
Presenter: Laura Petersen, Baylor College Medicine
Commentator: Carole Roan Gresenz, RAND Corporation
Evaluation of Implementation of the Prometheus Payment Pilot
Presenter: Peter Hussey, RAND Corporation
Commentator: Kathy Zeiler, Georgetown Univ. Law
Deterring Domestic Violence: Which Policies Reduce Repeat Offenses?
Presenter: Frank Sloan, Duke Univ. Economics, Public Policy, Business
Commentator: Nora Gordon, Georgetown Univ. Public Policy Institute
Cardiac Technology Diffusion: Market Failure and Expanding Access to Care
Presenter: Jill Horwitz, Univ. of Michigan Law
Commentator: Ron Borzekowski, United States Federal Reserve Bank
The Impact of Tort Reform on Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
Presenter: Max Schanzenbach, Northwestern Univ. Law
Commentator: Billy Jack, Georgetown Univ. Economics
1st Annual: Georgetown University Law Center (2009)
Are Restaurants Really Supersizing America?
Presenter: David Matsa, Northwestern Univ. Kellogg
Discussant: Tamar Klaiman, Georgetown Univ. Medical Center, School of Nursing and Health Studies
Stark Contrasts: The Impact of Prohibiting Physician Self-Referrals on the Prevalence of Overtreatment in Health Care
Presenter: Brian Chen, Stanford Univ., Shorenstein and Spogli Institutes
Commenter: Jean Mitchell, Georgetown Univ. Public Policy
Malpractice Standards of Care and Regional Variations in Physician Practice Styles
Presenter: Michael D. Frakes, Harvard Univ. Law, Petrie-Flom Center Academic Fellow
Commenter: William McGreevy, Georgetown Univ. Medical Center, School of Nursing and Health Studies
An Empirical Study of HPV Vaccination Policy Making in the States
Presenter: Michelle Mello, Harvard Univ. Public Health, Health Policy and Management
Commenter: Kathryn Zeiler, Georgetown Univ. Law
Mental Health Care Consumption and Outcomes: Considering Preventative Strategies Across Race and Class
Presenter: Barak D. Richman, Duke Univ. Law
Commenter: Brad Herring, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, PhD Program in Health Economics & Policy
The Impact of Tort Reform on Intensity of Treatment: Evidence from the Heart Patients
Presenter: Ronen Avraham, Univ. of Texas at Austin Law
Commenter: Randall R. Bovbjerg, Urban Institute, Health Policy Center
Duke Univ. Law