We investigated the effects of privatization on hospital efficiency in Germany. To do so, we obtained bootstrapped DEA efficiency scores in the first stage of our analysis and subsequently employed a difference-in-difference matching approach within a panel regression framework. Our findings...

The highly regarded Austrian health system delivers good quality and easily accessible services, but is costly. Its governance and funding structure is highly fragmented and it makes too much use of inpatient care in hospitals. Entry and competition opportunities are de facto limited in most...

This paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between human capital and organizational performance. We use detailed longitudinal monthly data on nursing units in the Veterans Administration hospital system to identify how the human capital (general, hospital-specific and unit or...

In Germany, employees are generally obliged to participate in the public health insurance system, where coverage is universal, co-payments and deductibles are moderate, and premia are based on income. However, they may buy private insurance instead if their income exceeds the compulsory...

Economists seeking to improve the efficiency of health care delivery frequently emphasize two issues: the fragmented structure of physician practices and poorly designed physician incentives. This paper analyzes these issues from the perspective of organizational economics. We begin with a brief...

In this study I have made efforts towards investigating healthcare in two arenas. First, can a model with life expectancy as a proxy for healthcare quality be used to objectify the study of efficiency in the G7 countries and Korea? Table 1 and the results section have illuminated many factor...

Introduction: An estimated 1,399 new cases of pancreatic cancer (PC) and 1,406 deaths from the same cause occurred in Colombia in 2002. We evaluate the cost-effectiveness of multidetector computed tomography (CT), endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and positron emission tomography with computed...

In this study the main recent methodological and empirical approaches to quantify income-related inequality in the utilization of health care are reviewed. By using data from the Survey of Living Conditions conducted in Argentina in 2001, concentration indices for visits to health professionals...

We ask how patient knowledge of appropriate antibiotic usage affects both physicians prescribing behavior and the physician-patient relationship. We conduct an audit study in which a pair of simulated patients with identical flu-like complaints visits the same physician. Simulated patient A is...

Health economists have largely ignored complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as an area of research, although both clinical experiences and several empirical studies suggest cost-effectiveness of CAM. The objective of this paper is to explore the cost-effectiveness of CAM compared to...