Annual Empirical Health Law Conference
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.
15 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
14 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
13 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
12 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
11 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
10 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
8 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
7 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
6 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
5 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
4 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
3 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
2 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
1 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
