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HOSPITAL OWNERSHIP AND PERFORMANCE
Author(s) -
BECKER EDMUND R.,
SLOAN FRANK A.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1985.tb01750.x
Subject(s) - profitability index , property rights , public hospital , business , public ownership , economics , public economics , actuarial science , finance , microeconomics , medicine , pathology
This study compares the performance of three ownership forms of hospitals: for profit, private nonprofit, and public, further classified according to whether or not the hospital is run by a hospital chain. Data come from a 1979 national survey of U.S. hospitals. The authors find that hospital cost is quite similar among alternative ownership forms as is profitability. The results do not provide much empirical support for standard property rights theory. Several reasons are suggested why this may be so.