Provider competition and healthcare quality: More bang for the buck?

Michael Katz ()

International Journal of Industrial Organization, 2013, vol. 31, issue 5, 612-625

Abstract: Public and private entities around the world are trying to induce the provision of higher-quality health care by adopting institutional arrangements intended to promote competition among care providers. I selectively survey and supplement the literature to show that an increase in competition—modeled either as a larger number of care providers or greater precision of signals available to consumers regarding provider quality—may result in lower equilibrium quality, holding prices fixed. These findings are an indication that considerable opportunities exist for industrial organization theorists to contribute to our understanding of healthcare markets.

Keywords: Healthcare; Quality; Competition; Insurance; Hospitals; Information (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 L13 L15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:indorg:v:31:y:2013:i:5:p:612-625

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2013.02.001

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