Determinants of dentists' geographic distribution

Practice location may have greater economic importance today for dental students and dentists who are considering relocation and/or expansion to new sites than in the past. Yet, a literature review easily leads to the inference that practice location decisions are far too complicated and individualistic for there to be any systematic pattern of dentists' geographic distribution. This paper specifies and estimates an economic model that attempts to explain the distribution of dentists in particular market areas in the state of Connecticut and to test the hypothesis that the distribution, rather than exhibiting randomness, adheres to the prediction of theory. The findings show that the geographic distribution of dentists is significantly related to a few key variables. Given these results, and because this model can be applied to other areas and uses data that are readily available for any market area, it may be useful for educators involved in helping dental students with their practice location decisions.

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