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Do Quasi-markets Evolve? Institutional Analysis and the NHS

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  • Hughes, David
  • Griffiths, Lesley
  • McHale, Jean V

Abstract

Institutional analysis offers a promising opportunity for theoretical cross-fertilization between economics and sociology. Neo-institutional economics argues that organizations gravitate towards common forms of economic organization (markets, hierarchies, or hybrid forms) primarily to minimize transaction costs, the new institutionalism in sociology contends that convergence may also depend on mimetic, normative, and coercive processes affecting 'organizational fields.' This paper examines organizational change in the NHS, focusing on areas of convergence and divergence in the contracting policies adopted by Welsh health authorities and trusts. Some versions of institutional analysis portray change as an evolutionary process driven primarily by efficiency considerations. The authors suggest that the development of NHS contracting policy is characterized by periodic strategic and administrative shifts which cast doubt on the evolutionary model and resemble the coercive institutional processes described by the sociological institutionalists. Copyright 1997 by Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Hughes, David & Griffiths, Lesley & McHale, Jean V, 1997. "Do Quasi-markets Evolve? Institutional Analysis and the NHS," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 21(2), pages 259-276, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:21:y:1997:i:2:p:259-76
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    Cited by:

    1. Giorgio Marini & Andrew Street, 2006. "The administrative costs of payment by results," Working Papers 017cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    2. Marini, Giorgia & Street, Andrew, 2007. "A transaction costs analysis of changing contractual relations in the English NHS," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 17-26, September.
    3. McCarter, Matthew W. & Wade-Benzoni, Kimberly A. & Kamal, Darcy K. Fudge & Bang, H. Min & Hyde, Steven J. & Maredia, Reshma, 2020. "Models of intragroup conflict in management: A literature review," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 925-946.
    4. Wyke, Sally & Mays, Nicholas & Street, Andrew & Bevan, Gwyn & McLeod, Hugh & Goodwin, Nick, 2003. "Should general practitioners purchase health care for their patients? The total purchasing experiment in Britain," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 243-259, September.
    5. Päivikki Kuoppakangas, 2013. "Adopting the Municipal Enterprise Form in Finland: Core Dilemmas in the Transformation of Public Healthcare Organizations," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 155-165, June.
    6. Harris, Rebecca & Brown, Stephen & Holt, Robin & Perkins, Elizabeth, 2014. "Do institutional logics predict interpretation of contract rules at the dental chair-side?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 81-89.
    7. Daniel Pop & Roxana Radu, 2013. "Challenges to Local Authorities under EU Structural Funds: Evidence from Mixed Quasi-markets for Public Service Provision in Romania," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(6), pages 1108-1123, November.

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