IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/quaeco/v49y2009i2p323-342.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of non-rural hospital mergers and acquisitions: An examination of cost and price outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Spang, Heather Radach
  • Arnould, Richard J.
  • Bazzoli, Gloria J.

Abstract

This paper examines the direct impact of urban horizontal hospital consolidations on hospital efficiency and prices. Specifically, we measure the extent of cost savings resulting from these consolidations and the extent to which these gains are passed on to consumers. A fixed effects model is tested with data consisting of 4160 unique hospitals, 125 of which were involved in mergers and 1040 in system acquisitions, for over a 10-year time period. We find that hospital consolidation may generate efficiency in some circumstances and some of these gains may be passed on to consumers, but the results are very sensitive to hospital ownership and governance and the structure of the market following the consolidation.

Suggested Citation

  • Spang, Heather Radach & Arnould, Richard J. & Bazzoli, Gloria J., 2009. "The effect of non-rural hospital mergers and acquisitions: An examination of cost and price outcomes," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 323-342, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:49:y:2009:i:2:p:323-342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062-9769(07)00022-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

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

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dranove, David, 1998. "Economies of scale in non-revenue producing cost centers: Implications for hospital mergers," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 69-83, January.
    2. Keeler, Emmett B. & Melnick, Glenn & Zwanziger, Jack, 1999. "The changing effects of competition on non-profit and for-profit hospital pricing behavior," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 69-86, January.
    3. Robert Connor & Roger Feldman & Bryan Dowd, 1998. "The Effects of Market Concentration and Horizontal Mergers on Hospital Costs and Prices," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 159-180.
    4. Cornwell, Christopher & Schmidt, Peter & Wyhowski, Donald, 1992. "Simultaneous equations and panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 151-181.
    5. Hausman, Jerry A & Taylor, William E, 1981. "Panel Data and Unobservable Individual Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1377-1398, November.
    6. Dranove, David & Cone, Kenneth, 1985. "Do state rate setting regulations really lower hospital expenses?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 159-165, June.
    7. Robinson, James C. & Luft, Harold S., 1985. "The impact of hospital market structure on patient volume, average length of stay, and the cost of care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 333-356, December.
    8. Melnick, Glenn A. & Zwanziger, Jack & Bamezai, Anil & Pattison, Robert, 1992. "The effects of market structure and bargaining position on hospital prices," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 217-233, October.
    9. Martin Gaynor & Deborah Haas-Wilson, 1999. "Change, Consolidation, and Competition in Health Care Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 141-164, Winter.
    10. Dranove, David & Ludwick, Richard, 1999. "Competition and pricing by nonprofit hospitals: a reassessment of Lynk's analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 87-98, January.
    11. Grannemann, Thomas W. & Brown, Randall S. & Pauly, Mark V., 1986. "Estimating hospital costs : A multiple-output analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 107-127, June.
    12. Vitaliano, Donald F., 1987. "On the estimation of hospital cost functions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 305-318, December.
    13. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    14. Ho, Vivian & Hamilton, Barton H., 2000. "Hospital mergers and acquisitions: does market consolidation harm patients?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 767-791, September.
    15. Dranove, David & Lindrooth, Richard, 2003. "Hospital consolidation and costs: another look at the evidence," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 983-997, November.
    16. Zwanziger, Jack & Melnick, Glenn A., 1988. "The effects of hospital competition and the Medicare PPS program on hospital cost behavior in California," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 301-320, December.
    17. Vita, Michael G., 1990. "Exploring hospital production relationships with flexible functional forms," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, June.
    18. Lynk, William J, 1995. "Nonprofit Hospital Mergers and the Exercise of Market Power," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(2), pages 437-461, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vanessa Cirulli & Giorgia Marini, 2023. "Do mergers really increase output? Evidence from English hospitals," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(1), pages 159-189, March.
    2. Schmitt, Matt, 2017. "Do hospital mergers reduce costs?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 74-94.

    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. Krishnan, Ranjani, 2001. "Market restructuring and pricing in the hospital industry," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 213-237, March.
    2. Melnick, Glenn & Keeler, Emmett, 2007. "The effects of multi-hospital systems on hospital prices," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 400-413, March.
    3. Krishnan, Ranjani A. & Krishnan, Hema, 2003. "Effects of hospital mergers and acquisitions on prices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 647-656, August.
    4. Gaynor, Martin & Vogt, William B., 2000. "Antitrust and competition in health care markets," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 27, pages 1405-1487, Elsevier.
    5. Cory S. Capps & Dennis W. Carlton & Guy David, 2020. "Antitrust Treatment Of Nonprofits: Should Hospitals Receive Special Care?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(3), pages 1183-1199, July.
    6. Nazmi Sari, 2002. "Do competition and managed care improve quality?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(7), pages 571-584, October.
    7. Cohen, Jeffrey P. & Morrison Paul, Catherine, 2008. "Agglomeration and Cost Economies for Washington State Hospital Services," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 553-564, November.
    8. Pan, Jay & Qin, Xuezheng & Li, Qian & Messina, Joseph P. & Delamater, Paul L., 2015. "Does hospital competition improve health care delivery in China?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 179-199.
    9. Berden, Carolien & Croes, R. & Kemp, R. & Mikkers, Misja & van der Noll, Rob & Shestalova, V. & Svitak, Jan, 2019. "Hospital Competition in the Netherlands : An Empirical Investigation," Discussion Paper 2019-008, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
    10. Siciliani, Luigi & Stanciole, Anderson & Jacobs, Rowena, 2009. "Do waiting times reduce hospital costs?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 771-780, July.
    11. R. Halbersma & M. Mikkers & E. Motchenkova & I. Seinen, 2011. "Market structure and hospital–insurer bargaining in the Netherlands," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 12(6), pages 589-603, December.
    12. Huckman, Robert S., 2006. "Hospital integration and vertical consolidation: An analysis of acquisitions in New York State," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 58-80, January.
    13. Daniel Kessler & Mark McClellan, 1999. "Designing Hospital Antitrust Policy to Promote Social Welfare," NBER Chapters, in: Frontiers in Health Policy Research, volume 2, pages 53-76, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Neil Soderlund & Rowena Jacobs, 2001. "Towards panel data specifications of efficiency measures for English acute hospitals," Working Papers 185chedp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    15. Daniel P. Kessler & Mark B. McClellan, 1999. "Is Hospital Competition Socially Wasteful?," NBER Working Papers 7266, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Martin Gaynor & Deborah Haas-Wilson, 1999. "Change, Consolidation, and Competition in Health Care Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 141-164, Winter.
    17. Dranove, David & Lindrooth, Richard & White, William D. & Zwanziger, Jack, 2008. "Is the impact of managed care on hospital prices decreasing?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 362-376, March.
    18. Daniel Kessler & Mark McClellan, 1999. "Designing Hospital Antitrust Policy to Promote Social Welfare," NBER Working Papers 6897, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Capps, Cory S. & Carlton, Dennis W. & David, Guy, 2010. "Antitrust Treatment of Nonprofits: Should Hospitals Receive Special Care?," Working Papers 232, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    20. José J. Escarce & Arvind K. Jain & Jeannette Rogowski, 2006. "Hospital Competition, Managed Care and Mortality After Hospitalization for Medical Conditions: Evidence From Three States," NBER Working Papers 12335, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    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:quaeco:v:49:y:2009:i:2:p:323-342. 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/inca/620167 .

    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.