Table 1 Variable description

otpeit

Dependent variable

Per visit of hospital outpatient PE

itpe_it

Dependent variable

Per capita of hospital inpatient PE

hlpt_it

Independent variable

Number of hospital pharmacists per 1 million of population

hlpn_it

Control variable

Number of hospital physicians per 1 million of population

DPI_it

Control variable

Drug price index

αi

Individual intercept coefficient

γt

Time intercept coefficient

Di

Dummy variable

\( {D}_i=\Big\{{\displaystyle \begin{array}{cc}1,& If\kern0.17em belongs\;i\;i=1,2,....,N\\ {}0, Else& \end{array}} \)

Wt

Dummy variable

\( {W}_t=\Big\{{\displaystyle \begin{array}{cc}1,& If\kern0.17em belongs\;t,t=1,2,....,N\\ {}0, Else& \end{array}} \)

Ε_it

Error term