Amid increasing interest in how government regulation and market competition affect the cost and financial sustainability in health care sector, it remains unclear whether health care providers behave similarly to their counterparts in other industries. The goal of this chapter is to study the...

We explore whether NHS hospitals managed their earnings upward before applying for Foundation Trust (FT) status, a scheme that allowed them greater financial freedom and management autonomy, in order to present an overly positive picture and increase their chances for a successful application....