There has been considerable consolidation in the hospital industry in recent years. Over 900 deals occurred from 1994 … in consolidation has led to concern about competition in local markets for hospital services. We examine the effect of … market structure on competition in local hospital markets specifically, does the hardness of competition increase with the …

The cost for hospital care depends on the quality of the service, on the personal characteristics of the patient, on … hospital care reimbursement systems will be discussed in a context where hospitals can observe patient severity and compete … is used by the provider to get more patients to his hospital. Spatial competition can then be used to curb the cost to …

Hospital markets are often characterised by price regulation and the existence of different ownership types. Using a … mixed duopolies, this paper shows that in this framework privatisation of the public hospital may increase overall welfare …. This holds if the public hospital is similar to the private hospital or less efficient and competition is low. The main …