The extent and existence of "defensive medicine" -- excessive medical care to defend a physician against malpractice claims -- is a perennial subject of both policy and academic debate.  For example, malpractice liability and associated defensive medicine are among the most-cited reasons for escalating health-care spending in the United States.

In this colloquium, Dr. Brian Chen will present results from his research investigating the extent of defensive medicine in Taiwan. He studies the impact of a series of court rulings in Taiwan that increased physicians’ liability risks, and a subsequent amendment to the law that reversed the courts’ rulings, on physicians’ test-ordering behavior and propensity to perform Caesarean sections.  He finds that physicians faced with higher malpractice pressure increased laboratory tests as expected, but unexpectedly reduced Caesarean sections.  (The reduction in Caesarean deliveries may be due to the fact that liability risks were more closely aligned with physicians’ standard of care after the court rulings.) After the law was amended to negate the court decisions, physicians reversed their previous behavior by reducing laboratory tests and increasing Caesarean deliveries.

This pattern of behavior is highly suggestive of the existence of defensive medicine among physicians in Taiwan. In other words, by studying physicians' response to legal changes in Taiwan, we find that greater malpractice liability may, under certain circumstances, prompt physicians to perform more services without necessarily improving patient health.

Dr. Brian Chen recently completed his Ph.D. in Business Administration in the Business and Public Policy Group at the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley. He received a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1997, and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1992.

Korean Studies Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center is hosting an international workshop on South Korean economic affairs on March 18-19 sponsored by Koret Foundation.  Leading scholars and former senior officials from Korea and the United States will explore key aspects of economic globalization and Korea's role, from policies and politics to the economic prospects of a unified Korean. This lecture is offered as a public event on the first day of the workshop for a larger audience from the community and the Bay area.

Ambassador Han was appointed by President Lee, Myung-bak as the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of the America on January 18, 2009. He presented his Letter of Credence to President Barack Obama on May 20, 2009.

Before the appointment, Ambassador Han served as the 38th Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea after his nomination was approved by the National Assembly on April 2, 2007, and he worked in that capacity until February 2008.

Prior to serving as Prime Minister, Ambassador Han held numerous high-ranking positions in the Korean government. In 2006, he was named Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Facilitating KORUS FTA following his service as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy. Before being named Minister of Government Policy Coordination in early 2004, he worked as President of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.

As Korea’s Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Ambassador Han went to Paris in 2001 before returning to Seoul later that year to serve at the Blue House, first as Senior Secretary to the President for Policy and Planning and later as Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Affairs. 

Ambassador Han was the Minister for Trade at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 1998 to 2001. Previously, he was Assistant Minister for International Trade and Vice Minister at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. From 1993 to 1994, he served as Secretary to the President for Economic Affairs.

During his distinguished career in government, Ambassador Han has made many contributions to the development and modernization of the Korean economy.  Deregulation, market opening and strengthening of the market economy have been the three pillars of his philosophy and framework for the economic policy of Korea.

Ambassador Han earned a B.A. in economics from Seoul National University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.  He has been awarded two Order of Public Service and Merit Medals.

This event is supported by a generous grant from the Koret Foundation.

Ambassador Bosworth will share his off-the-record thoughts with us.  No quotes or cameras of any kind please.

Stephen W. Bosworth is the Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, a position he assumed in February 2001. Prior to his appointment at The Fletcher School, he served as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from November 1997 to February 2001.

From 1995-1997, Dean Bosworth was the Executive Director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization [KEDO], an inter-governmental organization established by the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan to deal with North Korea. Before joining KEDO, he served seven years as President of the United States Japan Foundation, a private American grant-making institution. During that period, he co-authored several studies on public policy issues for the Carnegie Endowment and the Century Fund. He also taught International Relations as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs from 1990 to 1994. In 1993, he was the Sol Linowitz Visiting Professor at Hamilton College.

Dean Bosworth has had an extensive career in the United States Foreign Service, including service as Ambassador to Tunisia from 1979-1981 and Ambassador to the Philippines from 1984-1987. He also served in a number of senior positions in the Department of State, including Director of Policy Planning, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs. He is currently serving as Special Representative for North Korea Policy.

Dean Bosworth is the recipient of several awards, including the American Academy of Diplomacy's Diplomat of the Year Award in 1987, the Department of State's Distinguished Service Award in 1976 and 1986, and the Department of Energy's Distinguished Service Award in 1979. In 2005, the Government of Japan presented him with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star.

Bosworth is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Japan Society of Boston. He is also a member of the Trilateral Commission.

Bosworth is a graduate of Dartmouth College where he was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1992 to 2002 and served as Board Chair from 1996 to 2000.