The impact of structural and strategic competition on hospital quality

Christiane Wuckel

No 959, Ruhr Economic Papers from RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract: Many health care systems aim to enhance hospital quality by encouraging competition. However, evidence on the relationship between quality and competition is inconclusive. My contribution to this literature is two-fold. Analyzing the relationship between competition and quality for the German hospital market can give valuable insights about the nature of the relationship in a market with regulated prices that is characterized by a high number of hospitals and a diverse ownership structure. While most studies look at competition as market structure, I distinguish effects of market structure from effects of strategic behavior. I find evidence for a significant, non-linear relationship between market structure and care quality. Additionally, I find evidence for strategic behavior.

Keywords: Hospitals; quality; competition; spatial econometrics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 I11 L11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-eur, nep-hea and nep-reg
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:rwirep:959

DOI: 10.4419/96973123

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