Economics PhD Student Receives National Science Foundation Grant

Chase Eck ‘21 PhD (Economics) was recently awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant for his dissertation titled “The Effect of Certified Nurse Midwife Scope-of-Practice Laws on Health Costs, Prices and Outcomes.” 

The NSF grant will fund Eck’s dissertation research on scope of practice (SOP) laws for certified nurse midwives (CNMs). This work will include identifying the causal impact of scope of practice (SOP) laws on costs, estimating whether these savings are passed on to consumers via reductions in price or increases in quality, examining how market structure mediates these effects, and identifying causal mechanisms for the effects of SOP laws. According to the public NSF abstract, this research could help establish the United States as a global leader in healthcare cost reforms by providing insight into how labor market reforms can slow the growth of healthcare costs. 

“Eller faculty, staff and students are proud of Eck for receiving this prestigious grant from the NSF,” says Martin Dufwenberg, head of the Department of Economics. “We look forward to seeing the results of this important research and the effect it has on the healthcare industry.”