In recent years, decentralization of financial and political power has been perceived as a useful means to improve outcomes of the health care sector of many European countries. Such reforms could be the result of fashionable policy trends, rather than being based on knowledge of "what works"....

Objectives This paper explores the possibilities and limitations of obtaining and interpreting efficiency measurement on the level of the clinical department. We discuss the limitations of case-mix groupings such as the diagnosis related groups on this level.Methods Hospital costs are allocated...

The health economics literature contains contradictory empirical findings regarding the cost of an empty hospital bed. Recent empirical studies which account for the endogeneity of reserve capacity produce high estimates of these costs, while earlier studies and industry experts maintain that...

The paper examines the heterogeneity with respect to the impact of a financial reform - Activity Based Financing (ABF) - on hospital efficiency in Norway. Measures of technical efficiency and of cost-efficiency are considered. The data set is from a contiguous ten-year panel of 47 hospitals...

I forbindelse med behandlingen av statsbudsjettet for år 2000 ba Stortinget Regjeringen om å foreta en bred gjennomgang av sykehusenes økonomiske situasjon, og å legge frem et dokument for Stortinget i vårsesjonen før revidert nasjonalbudsjett. Til hjelp i dette arbeidet knyttet Sosial- og...