Physician induced demand for C-sections: does the convenience incentive matter?

This paper investigates whether physicians induce demand for C-sections in the days
preceding leisure periods. I reject that doctors are meaningfully increasing the number of
primary cesareans to accommodate their own preferences for control of deliveries around
holiday Mondays. Using a sample of more than 1,300,000 deliveries, I can estimate that
the induced demand due to convenience is close to zero. A small signi cant e ect is found
for women having had a previous C-section. While I replicate previous results of lower
C-section rates on leisure periods, I show that they are due to the way doctors schedule
planned cesareans rather than to an induced demand for reason of physicians' convenience.
If induced demand occurs, the decision takes place in the labor room and is not planned
in advance.