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Balancing the health workforce: breaking down overall technical change into factor technical change for labour—an empirical application to the Dutch hospital industry

Overview of attention for article published in Human Resources for Health, February 2017
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Title
Balancing the health workforce: breaking down overall technical change into factor technical change for labour—an empirical application to the Dutch hospital industry
Published in
Human Resources for Health, February 2017
DOI 10.1186/s12960-017-0184-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Jos L. T. Blank, Bart L. van Hulst

Abstract

Well-trained, well-distributed and productive health workers are crucial for access to high-quality, cost-effective healthcare. Because neither a shortage nor a surplus of health workers is wanted, policymakers use workforce planning models to get information on future labour markets and adjust policies accordingly. A neglected topic of workforce planning models is productivity growth, which has an effect on future demand for labour. However, calculating productivity growth for specific types of input is not as straightforward as it seems. This study shows how to calculate factor technical change (FTC) for specific types of input. The paper first theoretically derives FTCs from technical change in a consistent manner. FTC differs from a ratio of output and input, in that it deals with the multi-input, multi-output character of the production process in the health sector. Furthermore, it takes into account substitution effects between different inputs. An application of the calculation of FTCs is given for the Dutch hospital industry for the period 2003-2011. A translog cost function is estimated and used to calculate technical change and FTC for individual inputs, especially specific labour inputs. The results show that technical change increased by 2.8% per year in Dutch hospitals during 2003-2011. FTC differs amongst the various inputs. The FTC of nursing personnel increased by 3.2% per year, implying that fewer nurses were needed to let demand meet supply on the labour market. Sensitivity analyses show consistent results for the FTC of nurses. Productivity growth, especially of individual outputs, is a neglected topic in workforce planning models. FTC is a productivity measure that is consistent with technical change and accounts for substitution effects. An application to the Dutch hospital industry shows that the FTC of nursing personnel outpaced technical change during 2003-2011. The optimal input mix changed, resulting in fewer nurses being needed to let demand meet supply on the labour market. Policymakers should consider using more detailed and specific data on the nature of technical change when forecasting the future demand for health workers.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 5 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 46 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 46 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 7 15%
Student > Doctoral Student 6 13%
Professor 4 9%
Student > Ph. D. Student 4 9%
Student > Bachelor 3 7%
Other 5 11%
Unknown 17 37%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 7 15%
Nursing and Health Professions 6 13%
Business, Management and Accounting 4 9%
Economics, Econometrics and Finance 3 7%
Philosophy 2 4%
Other 6 13%
Unknown 18 39%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 February 2017.
All research outputs
#14,539,224
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from Human Resources for Health
#952
of 1,261 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#163,110
of 322,282 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Human Resources for Health
#20
of 24 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,382,440 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,261 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 13.3. This one is in the 24th percentile – i.e., 24% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 322,282 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 49th percentile – i.e., 49% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 24 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 16th percentile – i.e., 16% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.