NOVA SBE HEALTH ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT SEMINAR SERIES – MAY 2026

In this month’s edition of the NOVA SBE Health Economics & Management Seminar Series, we will have Nicolas Sirven, Professor of Economics at the École des hautes études en saúde publique (EHESP, France), affiliated with Arènes (CNRS/Inserm), and founder of RSMS (Inserm U1309, Health Services Research).

Professor Sirven will present his research on hospital workforce organisation, focusing on how 12-hour shifts redistribute workload across professional groups and generate organisational spillovers within hospital settings.

📅 Date: 5th May 2026
⏰ Time: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm (Lisbon Time)
📍 Location: Nova SBE | Room TBA

Title:
Who Carries the Burden of Flexibility? 12-hour Shifts and the Redistribution of Workload in Hospital Care

Authors: Elodie Bau and Nicolas Sirven

ABSTRACT:
Health workforce sustainability is a major challenge for hospital systems facing persistent staffing shortages. Compressed 12-hour shifts have been widely adopted, yet their effects remain debated.

Using detailed administrative data and a quasi-experimental design, this study shows that such reforms do not reduce staffing pressures but instead redistribute workload across professional groups, with overtime increases concentrated among nursing assistants. Apparent reductions in sickness absence are fragile and reflect short-term adjustments rather than sustained improvements.

The analysis also identifies important organisational spillovers, with non-adopting units experiencing higher absenteeism due to coordination frictions. These findings highlight how hospitals absorb flexibility reforms through system-wide workload reallocation rather than efficiency gains.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY: Nicolas Sirven
Nicolas Sirven is Professor of Economics at the École des hautes études en santé publique (EHESP, France), affiliated with Arènes (CNRS/Inserm), and founder of RSMS (Inserm U1309, Health Services Research). He holds the EMES Endowed Chair at the EHESP School of Management. He received his PhD in Development Economics from the Université de Bordeaux and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the economics of health systems, particularly hospital organisation, healthcare production, and long-run expenditure dynamics, combining large-scale administrative data with applied microeconometric methods.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Nova School of Business and Economics, 1 Rua da Holanda, Carcavelos, Portugal

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