Selling uterus for money ? The moral hazard of hysterectomy

• Main Authors: Chun-Yu Yeh, 葉俊佑
• Other Authors: Hsien-Ming Lien
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/63267952321876224757

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 經濟學研究所 === 101 === The uterus is an important organ of a woman and its primary function is to carry a baby. When the uterus is failing, it usually causes considerable pain to a woman physically and mentally. Hysterectomy（the surgical removal of an uterus） has been a common medical procedure. So far, most studies dwelled on how or why hysterectomy was implemented in a medical sense. This paper, however, analyzes hysterectomy with regards to the economic incentive it produces. The research questions are, do social security disability benefits alter females’ choices of having their uterus removed? Or, does it provide a moral hazard in which female people remove their uteruses simply for money? According to national social security regulations, those qualified to receive disability benefits for hysterectomy are women below 45 years old. Thus, the targets of this study include women who have undergone hysterectomy at the age of 40 to 49, in the duration of 2005~2009（data retrieved from national health insurance database）. In order to see the difference in behaviors before or after 45 years old, the researcher adopts Regression Discontinuity Design to analyze the data. The results show that women who are under insurance coverage are significantly more prone to undergo hysterectomy than women who are not under insurance coverage. For those who are under insurance coverage, the peak time of having hysterectomy is 44 years old, with a sudden drop in 45 years old. Besides, the closer the women are to 45 years old, the more likely they are to have hysterectomy. Thus, the benefits offered by social security indeed affect the behavior of hysterectomy in women.