Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP6285
Authors: Kurt Richard Brekke; Luigi Siciliani; Odd Rune Straume
Abstract: This paper studies the impact of hospital competition on waiting times. We use a Salop-type model, with hospitals that differ in (geographical) location and, potentially, waiting time, and two types of patients; high-benefit patients who choose between neighbouring hospitals (competitive segment), and low-benefit patients who decide whether or not to demand treatment from the closest hospital (monopoly segment). Compared with a benchmark case of regulated monopolies, we find that hospital competition leads to longer waiting times in equilibrium if the competitive segment is sufficiently large. Given a policy regime of hospital competition, the effect of increased competition depends on the parameter of measurement: Lower travelling costs increase waiting times, higher hospital density reduces waiting times, while the effect of a larger competitive segment is ambiguous. We also show that, if the competitive segment is large, hospital competition is socially preferable to regulated monopolies only if the (regulated) treatment price is sufficiently high.
Keywords: competition; hospitals; waiting times
JEL Codes: H42; I11; I18; L13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Competition (L13) | Waiting Times (C41) |
| Size of Competitive Segment (L25) | Waiting Times (C41) |
| Lower Traveling Costs (R48) | Waiting Times (C41) |
| Lower Traveling Costs (R48) | Hospital Activity (I19) |
| Hospital Density (I11) | Waiting Times (C41) |
| Regulated Treatment Price (L51) | Social Preferability of Competition (C72) |