Competition, Equity and Quality in Health Care

Maija Halonen-Akatwijuka and Carol Propper

The Centre for Market and Public Organisation from The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK

Abstract: In this paper we focus on the implications of consumer heterogeneity for whether competition will improve outcomes in health care markets. We show that competition generally favours the majority group as higher quality for the majority is an effective way to increase the quality signal and attract patients. A regulator who is concerned about equity may protect the minority group by not introducing competition. Alternatively, if the minority group is favoured by the providers under monopoly, competition can improve equity by forcing the providers to increase quality for the majority group.

Keywords: hospitals; competition; quality; equity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 H11 I11 I14 L31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2012-09
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Competition, Equity and Quality in HealthCare (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bri:cmpowp:12/296

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