Working Paper: NBER ID: w10604
Authors: Alberto Abadie; Sebastien Gay
Abstract: In the U.S., Great Britain, and in many other countries, the gap between the demand and the supply of human organs for transplantation is on the rise, despite the efforts of governments and health agencies to promote donor registration. In some countries of continental Europe, however, cadaveric organ procurement is based on the principle of presumed consent. Under presumed consent legislation, a deceased individual is classified as a potential donor in absence of explicit opposition to donation before death. This article analyzes the impact of presumed consent laws on donation rates. For this purpose, we construct a dataset on organ donation rates and potential factors affecting organ donation for 22 countries over a 10-year period. We find that while differences in other determinants of organ donation explain much of the variation in donation rates, after controlling for those determinants presumed consent legislation has a positive and sizeable effect on organ donation rates.
Keywords: organ donation; presumed consent; cadaveric donation; health policy
JEL Codes: I18; J18
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| presumed consent legislation (K36) | organ donation rates (D64) |
| GDP per capita (O49) | organ donation rates (D64) |
| health expenditures (H51) | organ donation rates (D64) |
| religious beliefs (Z12) | organ donation rates (D64) |
| legislative systems (D72) | organ donation rates (D64) |
| mortality rates from motor vehicle accidents (R48) | organ donation rates (D64) |
| mortality rates from cerebrovascular diseases (I12) | organ donation rates (D64) |