Government agencies employ a variety of mechanisms for securing goods and services from the private sector. These include posting prices, reimbursing for costs, and soliciting competitive bids. Procurement of healthcare services offers several unique challenges. The supplier can influence the...

The use of government-mandated report cards to diminish uncertainty about the quality of products and services is widespread. However, report cards will have little effect if they simply confirm consumers' prior beliefs. Moreover, documented "responses" to report cards may reflect learning about...

This paper investigates whether managers who fail to exploit regulatory loopholes are vulnerable to replacement. We use the U.S. hospital industry in 1985-1996 as a case study. A 1988 change in Medicare rules widened a pre-existing loophole in the Medicare payment system, presenting hospitals...

The use of government-mandated report cards to diminish uncertainty about the quality of products and services is widespread. However, report cards will have little effect if they simply confirm consumers' prior beliefs. Moreover, documented quot;responsesquot; to report cards may reflect...

This amicus brief was filed in Federal Trade Commission v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc., in which the FTC has obtained review of an 11th Circuit decision that insulated a merger of two nonprofit hospitals from antitrust scrutiny. We make two arguments in the amicus brief. First, there is no...