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Relative Efficiency, Scale Effect, and Scope Effect of Public Hospitals: Evidence from Australia

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Author Info
Jian Wang () (Shandong University, China)
Zhong Zhao () (IZA Bonn, Germany)
Amir Mahmood () (University of Newcastle, Australia)

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Abstract

Using the 1997-1998 New South Wales public-hospitals comparison data, we investigate the hospital-level inefficiency by applying a stochastic-frontier multiproduct cost function. We use a flexible translog cost function to reduce the measurement errors of the outputs of the hospital. The main findings are: First, inefficiency accounts for 9.3% of total hospital costs in large hospitals and 11.3% in small hospitals, when including complexity indicators. Second, diseconomies of scale exist in very large hospitals, whereas scale economies appear in very small hospitals. Third, scope effects are found in both large and small hospitals. Fourth, small hospitals are more labor-intensive than large hospitals are.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2520.

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Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2006
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2520

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Related research
Keywords: translog cost function; economies of scale and scope; efficiency; public hospital;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Wagstaff, Adam & Barnum, Howard, 1992. "Hospital cost functions for developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1044, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jondrow, James & Knox Lovell, C. A. & Materov, Ivan S. & Schmidt, Peter, 1982. "On the estimation of technical inefficiency in the stochastic frontier production function model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2-3), pages 233-238, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Christensen, Laurits R & Jorgenson, Dale W & Lau, Lawrence J, 1973. "Transcendental Logarithmic Production Frontiers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 55(1), pages 28-45, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Breyer, Friedrich, 1987. "The specification of a hospital cost function : A comment on the recent literature," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 147-157, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Randall Randall P. Ellis, 1991. "Hospital Cost Function Estimation When Firms May Not Try to Minimize Total Costs," Papers 0029, Boston University - Industry Studies Programme.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. C. L. Chua & Alfons Palangkaraya & Jongsay Yong, 2009. "Hospital Competition, Technical Efficiency, and Quality," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2009n16, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
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