The Efficiency of Slacking off: Evidence From the Emergency Department

• DOI: 10.3982/ecta13565
• Publication Date: 2018-05-21T08:19:34Z
• Authors: David C. Chan
• Keywords: jel:L23; 0502 economics and business; 05 social sciences; jel:D20; jel:I10; jel:M50

Work schedules play an important role in utilizing labor organizations.In this study of emergency department physicians shift work, induce two distortions: First, "slack off" by accepting fewer patients near end (EOS).Second, distort patient care, incurring higher costs as they spend less time on accepted EOS.Examining how these effects change with overlap reveals a tradeoff between the two.Within hour after normal work completion, are willing to hospital resources eight times more than their market wage preserve leisure.Accounting for overall costs, I find that slack off at approximately second-best optimal levels.