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...

This paper exploits a natural experiment in the state of California, to show that pro-competitive healthcare policy may have unintended long-term liabilities unless the system as a whole is carefully designed to preserve access to care for the poor. California's Medicaid Reform Act of 1982...

Taking an evolutionary view, Harold Demsetz hypothesized that firms differ persistently in efficiency and that industry concentration results from growth of efficient firms at the expense of inefficient ones. We test this idea with microdata from the hospital industry. Initial hospital...

This paper examines the effects of competition between insurers for the patronage of a firm's employees. Since for employment-based health insurance the employee choice of health insurance plans is often limited, the availability of competing plans in the market does not necessarily reflect...

The consensus among many health economists is that no meaningful performance differences exist among for-profit and non-profit hospitals in the US, but this topic has continued to be a matter of academic, judicial, and public policy interest. A similar debate has ensued internationally,...