We examine the strategic interaction in the market for physician services when the total budget for reimbursement is fixed. We show that this prospective payment system involves - compared to a fee-for-service remuneration system - a severe coordination problem, which potentially leads to the...

In this paper we analyse the effects of soft budget constraints in an international context. Firstly, we show that soft budget constraints in an exporting country lead to higher levels of trade protection in the recipient country. Secondly, the model predicts that protectionist trade policy...

This paper studies the effect of the hardening of the budget constraint on the behaviour of public enterprises. Drawing from finance theory, we provide empirical evidence of a change in behaviour of public enterprises between soft and hard budget constraint regimes by investigating the financial...