Total factor productivity (TFP) growth allows for additional health care services under restricted resources. We examine whether hospital policy can stimulate hospital TFP growth. We exploit variation across German federal states in the period 1993 to 2013. State governments decide on hospital...

The privatisation of hospitals, i.e. a change in their type of ownership from the municipal and private non-profit type to the private profit-oriented type, has been the subject of heated debate ever since this development began back in the early 1990s. To objectivise this debate, the Fact Books...

Medical providers often have a significant influence on treatment decisions which they can use in their own financial interest. Classical models of supplier-induced demand predict that medical providers will supply fewer services if they face increasing prices. We test this prediction based on a...

To a large extent, planning and budgeting in government hospitals are still carried out in an unsystematic, nonstrategic manner that goes against the thrust of current reforms. Historic budgeting proves to be inadequate in responding to the real needs of hospitals, especially in terms of...

Changes in medical expenses may force hospitals to reallocate their resources, which potentially come at the detriment of healthcare quality. Using data on the universe of German hospitals, I investigate resource reallocations between capital stock, human resources, services and the...