Ruhr Economic Papers

RGS, RUB, RWI, 12/2014, 18 S./p., 8 Euro, ISBN 978-3-86788-600-0 DOI: 10.4419/86788600

Abstract

Existing literature analyzing the choice of received long-term care by frail elderly (65+ years) predominantly focuses on physical and psychological conditions of elderly people as factors that influence the decision for a particular type of care. Until now, however, the regional in-patient long-term care supply has been neglected as influential factor in the individual’s decision-making process. In this study, we analyze the choice of received long-term care by explicitly taking the regional supply of nursing homes into account. When estimating a discrete choice model, we distinguish between four different types of formal and informal care provision. We find that the decision for long-term in-patient care is significantly correlated with the regional supply of nursing home places, while controlling for physical and psychological conditions of the individual.