The purpose of this text is to describe a procedure that can be used to construct a Herfindahl-Hirschman index of market concentration based on the following two pieces of information: <p> <p> a) An output measure of individual producers located in areas identified with a postal code. <p> b) A matrix...</p></p></p>

In a period where decentralisation seemed to be the prominent trend, Norway in 2002 chose to re-centralise the hospital sector. The reform had three main aims; cost control, efficiency and reduced waiting times. This study investigates whether the hospital reform has improved hospital...

Empirical studies show that years of schooling are positively correlated with good health, and that education is better correlated with health than with variables like occupation and income. This can be explained in different ways as the implication may go from education to health, from health...

The purpose of this paper is to gain more knowledge concerning individuals’ preferences for alternative GPs within a municipality. We have data on the population’s first, second and third choice of GPs. The data stem from the entry form the inhabitant filled in as a result of the...

In the present paper we examine how different sets of beliefs about the health effects of smoking would influence a rational smoker. By embedding the rational addiction theory in a Grossman model of health investment modified to take account of psychological adaptation effects, we present a...

We study the interaction between patient shortage and patients' waiting time to get an appointment. From a theoretical model we predict that physicians experiencing a shortage of patients offer their patients a shorter waiting time than their unconstrained colleagues. This happens because a...

Efficiency analyses in the health care sector are often criticised for not incorporating quality variables. The definition of quality of primary health care has many aspects, and it is inevitably also a question of the patients’ perception of the services received. This paper uses variables...

A good health is important for having a good life. This is supported by surveys on happiness. However, at least after a certain age, the health state deteriorates naturally over time due to ageing. Nevertheless, research reports show that old people in average are satisfied with their health...

Previous studies indicate that Finnish hospitals have significantly higher productivity than in the other Nordic countries. We decompose the productivity levels into technical efficiency, scale efficiency and country specific possibility sets (technical frontiers). Data have been collected on...