Faculty – Mark Votruba

Mark Votruba, PhD, is an associate professor with positions in the Economics Department in the Weatherhead School of Management and in the Center for Healthcare Research and Policy in the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Votruba holds additional appointments as a research associate at Statistics Norway and as an adjunct associate professor at University of Stavanger in Norway. He is also a faculty associate at the Shubert Center for Child Studies at Case Western Reserve University.

Votruba’s research spans topics in labor economics, health economics and public finance. One stream of his research explores the implications of job loss for displaced workers, their families and their communities. Another stream investigates the impact of childhood exposures on later-life outcomes. In the area of health economics, Votruba’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of low-quality care in the US healthcare economy. His research appears in a diverse range of journals including THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES, JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES, JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION, JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES, DEMOGRAPHY, SOCIAL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE, MEDICAL CARE and the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY. His published work on the importance of search frictions in health insurance markets was awarded the Arrow Award for Best Paper in Health Economics by the International Health Economics Association in 2012. His article “Organizational Economics and Physician Practices” was selected for inclusion in the recently published ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HEALTH ECONOMICS.

Votruba received by PhD in Economics from Princeton University in 2002. He also holds an MA in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago, as well as a BA in Mathematics from Centre College of Kentucky. Votruba instructs courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level. In 2010 and 2014, he was nominated for the Weatherhead Undergraduate Teaching Award for his efforts in Health Care Economics and Public Finance. His graduate courses in Health Economics and Strategy serve the MSM-Healthcare program and the Cleveland Clinic-Weatherhead Executive MBA program. Votruba has served as academic director of the MSM-Healthcare program since its inception in 2014. He was named faculty director of Weatherhead School of Management Graduate Health Programs in 2015. Votruba is also a frequent contributor to the Fundamental of Clinical Medicine courses in the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College.

Curriculum Vita

PhD, Princeton University, 2003
MA, Princeton University, 1999
MA, University of Chicago, 1995
BS, Centre College of Kentucky, 1992

Interests and Courses

Research

Health Economics: Allocation of Medical Resources, Insurance Markets, Health System Organization.

Public/Labor Economics: Social Program Participation, Social Interactions Effects, Effects of Job Loss, Childhood Exposures.

Teaching

Health economics; public economics; labor economics.

Recent Courses and Syllabi

• Health Care Economics
• Health Economics and Strategy
• Dialogues in Health Care Management

Selected Publications

• Tanenbaum, J. T., Cebul, R. D., Votruba, M., Einstader, D. (2018).
  Association of a Regional Health Improvement Collaborative with Rates of Ambulatory Care Sensitive Hospitalizations and Associated Costs   (vol. 37, 2 ed., pp. 266-74). ProjectHope: Health Affairs.
• Kalil, A., Mogstad, M., Rege, M., Votruba, M. (2016).
  Father Presence and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment   Journal of Human Resources.
• Rebitzer, J., Votruba, M. (2014). In A.J. Culyer (Ed.),
  Organizational Economics and Physician Practices   Elsevier.
• Votruba, M., Rege, M., Telle, K. (2012).
  Social Interaction Effects in Disability Pension Participation: Evidence from Plant Downsizing   (vol. 114, issue 4, pp. 1208-39). Scandanavian Journal of Economics.
• Rebitzer, J., Votruba, M. (2011).
  Organizational Economics and Physician Practices   (issue wp#17535, ). NBER.
• Rege, M., Telle, K., Votruba, M. (2011).
  Parental Job Loss and Children's School Performance   (vol. 78, issue 4, pp. 1462-89). Review of Economic Studies.
• Kalil, A., Mogstad, M., Rege, M., Votruba, M. (2011).
  Divorced Fathers' Proximity and Children's Long Run Outcomes: Evidence from Norwegian Registry Data   (vol. 48, issue 3, pp. 1005-1027). Demography.
• Cebul, R., Rebitzer, J., Taylor, L., Votruba, M. (2011).
  Unhealthy Insurance Markets: Search Frictions and the Cost and Quality of Health Insurance   (vol. 101, issue 5, pp. 1842-71). American Economic Review.
• Votruba, M. (2010).
  Trans Fats, the Rational Consumer, and the Role of Government   (vol. 12, issue 10, pp. 804-811). Virtual Mentor: The AMA Journal of Ethics.
• Rege, M., Telle, K., Votruba, M. (2009).
  The Effect of Plant Downsizing on Disability Pension Utilization   (vol. 7, issue 4, pp. 754-785). Journal of the European Economic Association.
• Cebul, R., Rebitzer, J., Taylor, L., Votruba, M. (2009).
  Fixing what's broken: The economics of the public insurance option   Cleveland, OH: The Plain Dealer .
• Votruba, M., Kling, J. (2009).
  Effects of Neighborhood Characteristics on the Mortality of Male Black Youth: Evidence from Gautreaux, Chicago   (vol. 68, issue 5, pp. 814-823). Social Science and Medicine.
• Cebul, R., Rebitzer, J., Taylor, L., Votruba, M. (2008).
  Organizational Fragmentation and Care Quality in the U.S. Health Care System   (vol. 22, issue 4, pp. 93-113). Journal of Economic Perspectives.
• Rege, M., Telle, K., Votruba, M. (2007).
  Parental Job Loss and Children's School Performance   (dp#517 ed., ). Statistics Norway .
• Rege, M., Telle, K., Votruba, M. (2007).
  Plant Closure and Marital Dissolution   (dp#514 ed., ). Statistics Norway .
• Votruba, M., Bailit, J. (2007).
  Medical Cost Savings Associated with 17 Alpha Hydroxyprogesterone Caproate   (vol. 196, issue 3, pp. 219.e1-e7.). American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
• Votruba, M., Tsai, A. C., Bridges, J. F., Cebul, R. (2006).
  Overcoming Bias in Estimating the Volume-Outcome Relationship   (vol. 41, issue 1, pp. 252-264). Chicago, IL: Health Services Research.
• Votruba, M., Cebul, R. (2006).
  Redirecting Patients to Improve Stroke Outcomes: Implications of a Volume-Based Approach in One Urban Market   (vol. 44, issue 12, pp. 1129-1136). Medical Care.

Awards

• 20th Annual Arrow Award, International Health Economics Association. (2013).
• Weatherhead Undergraduate Teaching Award finalist, WSOM. (2010).