We examine the impact of piped water on the under-1 infant mortality rate(IMR) in Brazil using a novel econometric procedure for the estimation of quantiletreatment effects with panel data. The provision of piped water in Brazil is highlycorrelated with other observable and unobservable...

The first essay uses a model of profit-maximizing hospitals to examine hospital responses to global budgeting in the forms of dumping and cost shifting. The main findings include: (1) Hospitals dump insured patients when the covered services are priced under costs. Whetherthe budget target is...