Analyzing Markets for Health Workers: Insights from Labor and Health Economics

Global Health Workforce Labor Market Projections for 2030

“…In reality, markets can fail to "clear" because prices are either not flexible, or demand and/or supply does not readily adjust to price signals. Both types of rigidities are common in the health labor market [14]. First, price of labor in the health sector is often not flexible because wages in the public health sector (often the largest employer in many countries) are usually set by legislative processes and tied to civil servant pay scales.…”

“…However, this needs-based approach neglects other important factors that influence the size of the health workforce, notably labor market dynamics that are defined by demand and supply interactions [5,14]. It should not be assumed that labor markets always "clear," in other words that the supply and demand for workers perfectly match.…”

Modeling the Dynamics and Spillovers of the Health Labor Market: Evidence from China’s Provincial Panel Data

“…Although scarcity in the health workforce might be detected in one region, a nuanced picture might be drawn when zooming into smaller scales. For example, when divided into smaller patches of the submarket (e.g., urban-rural, public-private, health institution level, skill mix) [23], it is possible that health labor is sufficient in some submarkets and greatly in need in others. Third, the supply and demand sides are not mutually independent.…”

“…Based on the concepts of the supply and demand of the health labor market, it is quite clear that the health workforce size is a "product" of the interactions of both the supply and demand. In a perfect health labor market or submarket, the supply (the quantity of ) would equal the demand, and there would be no imbalances [23]. However, in reality, the health workforce supply normally fails to keep up with the rising demand, and the stock of health workforce in one certain area is neither the demand for nor supply of the health workforce, but the interactions of both [24].…”

What factors affect physicians' labour supply: Comparing structural discrete choice and reduced‐form approaches

“…A critical task for health care policy is to ensure the long‐term supply of medical services for an ageing population and an increasing demand for health care. To address the seemingly persistent disequilibrium in physician labour markets (World Health Organisation, ), national policy responses have largely focused on changing the number of medical graduates (McPake, Scott, & Ijeoma, ), the geographic distribution of physicians and the use of financial incentives, particularly pay‐for‐performance systems, to improve access to health care.…”