IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v228y2024ics0167268124003445.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hospital capacity reporting in Germany during Covid-19

Author

Listed:
  • Reif, Simon
  • Schubert, Sabrina

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals faced a unique predicament. Hospital care was urgently needed and society took efforts to prevent overwhelming hospitals. However, hospitals in case-based reimbursement schemes faced financial problems because of canceled elective care visits and government regulations to keep capacity free for Covid-19 patients. Therefore, emergency financing measures were implemented in many countries. We analyze how hospitals in Germany responded to a scheme that provided financial support if the intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy rate in a county exceeded 75%. The scheme distributed over seven billion euros to hospitals and was notable because financial support depended on a measure (ICU occupancy rate) that hospitals could directly influence. To analyze hospitals’ reactions to this scheme, we employ event study analyses comparing ICU capacity before and after regions became eligible. We find no evidence of strategic reporting at an economically meaningful and hence empirically detectable scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Reif, Simon & Schubert, Sabrina, 2024. "Hospital capacity reporting in Germany during Covid-19," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:228:y:2024:i:c:s0167268124003445
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2024.106730
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268124003445
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2024.106730?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hugh Gravelle & Matt Sutton & Ada Ma, 2010. "Doctor Behaviour under a Pay for Performance Contract: Treating, Cheating and Case Finding?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(542), pages 129-156, February.
    2. Augurzky, Boris & Busse, Reinhard & Haering, Alexander & Nimptsch, Ulrike & Pilny, Adam & Werbeck, Anna, 2021. "Analysen zum Leistungsgeschehen der Krankenhäuser und zur Ausgleichspauschale in der Corona-Krise: Ergebnisse für den Zeitraum Januar bis Mai 2021," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 268725, March.
    3. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    4. Zack Cooper & Fiona Scott Morton & Nathan Shekita, 2020. "Surprise! Out-of-Network Billing for Emergency Care in the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(9), pages 3626-3677.
    5. Jonas Schreyögg & Tom Stargardt & Oliver Tiemann & Reinhard Busse, 2006. "Methods to determine reimbursement rates for diagnosis related groups (DRG): A comparison of nine European countries," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 215-223, August.
    6. Leemore S. Dafny, 2005. "How Do Hospitals Respond to Price Changes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1525-1547, December.
    7. Augurzky, Boris & Busse, Reinhard & Haering, Alexander & Nimptsch, Ulrike & Pilny, Adam & Werbeck, Anna, 2021. "Analysen zum Leistungsgeschehen der Krankenhäuser und zur Ausgleichspauschale in der Corona-Krise: Ergebnisse für den Zeitraum Januar bis Dezember 2020," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 234020, March.
    8. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    9. Felbermayr Gabriel & Hinz Julian & Chowdhry Sonali, 2021. "Après-ski: The spread of coronavirus from Ischgl through Germany," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 22(4), pages 415-446, November.
    10. Pedro Barros & Gisele Braun, 2017. "Upcoding in a National Health Service: the evidence from Portugal," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(5), pages 600-618, May.
    11. Augurzky, Boris & Busse, Reinhard & Haering, Alexander & Nimptsch, Ulrike & Pilny, Adam & Werbeck, Anna & Wuckel, Christiane, 2022. "Analysen zum Leistungsgeschehen der Krankenhäuser und zur Ausgleichspauschale in der Corona-Krise: Ergebnisse für den Zeitraum Januar bis Dezember 2021," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 266529, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Milstein, Ricarda & Schreyögg, Jonas, 2024. "The end of an era? Activity-based funding based on diagnosis-related groups: A review of payment reforms in the inpatient sector in 10 high-income countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. He, Qinghong & Liu, Gordon G. & Liu, Xiangbo & Tang, Daisheng, 2025. "Effects of separating drug sales from treatment on medical disputes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 368(C).
    3. Bas Scheer & Wiljan van den Berge & Maarten Goos & Alan Manning & Anna Salomons, 2022. "Alternative Work Arrangements and Worker Outcomes: Evidence from Payrolling," CPB Discussion Paper 435, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    4. Ichev, Riste & Valentinčič, Aljoša, 2025. "The effect of impact investing on performance of private firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    5. Mac Clay, Pablo & Börner, Jan & Sellare, Jorge, 2023. "Institutional and macroeconomic stability mediate the effect of auctions on renewable energy capacity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    6. Katrin Huber & Geske Rolvering, 2023. "Public child care and mothers’ career trajectories," Working Papers 228, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    7. Coury, Michael & Falconer, Liam & La Nauze, Andrea, 2024. "Wildfire smoke and private provision of public air-quality monitoring," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    8. Ricardo Dahis & Christiane Szerman, 2023. "Decentralizing Development: Evidence from Government Splits," Monash Economics Working Papers 2023-18, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    9. Stefan Bauernschuster & Michael Grimm & Cathy M. Hajo, 2023. "The Impact of Margaret Sanger’s Birth Control Clinics on Early 20th Century U.S. Fertility and Mortality," CESifo Working Paper Series 10421, CESifo.
    10. Lan, Xiujuan & Hu, Zheneng & Wen, Chuanhao, 2023. "Does the opening of high-speed rail enhance urban entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Bhalotra, Sonia & Clarke, Damian & Mühlrad, Hanna & Palme, Mårten, 2021. "Health and Labor Market Impacts of Twin Birth : Evidence from a Swedish IVF Policy Mandate," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1391, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    12. Rik Chakraborti & Gavin Roberts, 2023. "How price-gouging regulation undermined COVID-19 mitigation: county-level evidence of unintended consequences," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 196(1), pages 51-83, July.
    13. Luo, Lianfa & Cheng, Zhiming & Ye, Qingqing & Cheng, Yanjun & Smyth, Russell & Yang, Zhiqing & Zhang, Le, 2024. "Nonmonetary awards and innovation: Evidence from winning China's Top Brand Contest," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Wang, Lisha & Pan, Minjie & Qian, Xinlei & Lv, Kangjuan, 2025. "Do specialized courts matter? Environmental judiciary and corporate emissions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    15. Marini, Marco A. & Nocito, Samuel, 2025. "Climate activism favors pro-environmental consumption," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    16. Görg, Holger & Lehr, Jakob, 2024. "Short and medium-term effects of foreign acquisitions on manufacturing firms: Evidence from Germany," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 302104, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    17. Hashida, Yukiko & Dundas, Steven J., 2023. "The effects of a voluntary property buyout and acquisition program on coastal housing markets: Evidence from New York," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    18. Shanike J. Smart & Solomon W. Polachek, 2024. "COVID-19 vaccine and risk-taking," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 68(1), pages 25-49, February.
    19. Maclean, J. Catherine & Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2020. "Mandated Sick Pay: Coverage, Utilization, and Welfare Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 13132, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Mayberry, Anthony A., 2023. "Demilitarization and economic growth: Empirical evidence in support of a peace dividend," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 960-988.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hospitals; Misreporting; Financial support programs; Covid;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • H27 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Other Sources of Revenue

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:228:y:2024:i:c:s0167268124003445. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.