LEADER 03061oam 22004453a 450 001 9910698306803321 005 20230622022748.0 035 $a(NBER)w9471 035 $a(CKB)3240000000018645 035 $a(OCoLC)231687800 035 $a(EXLCZ)993240000000018645 100 $a20230622d2003 fy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aCompetition Among Hospitals /$fMartin Gaynor, William B. Vogt 210 $aCambridge, Mass$cNational Bureau of Economic Research$d2003 210 1$a[Washington, D.C.] :$c[Bureau of Economics, U.S. Federal Trade Commission],$d[2003] 215 $a1 online resource$cillustrations (black and white); 225 1 $aNBER working paper series$vno. w9471 300 $aFebruary 2003. 330 3 $aOur objective is to determine the effect of ownership type (for-profit, not-for-profit, government) on firm conduct in hospital markets. Secondary objectives include estimating hospital demand systems useful for market definition and merger simulation. To this end, we estimate a structural model of demand and pricing in the short term hospital industry in California, and then use the estimates to simulate the effect of a merger. Demand is modeled at the level of individual consumers using discrete choice techniques and micro data on individuals. Price in the demand equation is endogenous, and we use recently developed instrumental variables techniques to correct for this. We allow the behavior of for-profit and not-for-profit firms to differ, modeling these differences structurally following the relevant theory literature. We find that California hospitals in 1995 faced a downward-sloping demand for their products, with an average price elasticity of demand of -5.67. Not-for-profit hospitals face less elastic demand and have lower marginal costs. Their prices are lower, but markups are higher than those of for-profits. We simulate the effects of the 1997 merger of two hospital chains. In unconcentrated markets such as Los Angeles and San Diego, the merger has virtually no effect on prices. However, in San Luis Obispo County, where the merger creates a near monopoly, prices rise by up to 58%, and the predicted price increase would not be substantially smaller were the chains to be not-for-profit. 410 0$aWorking Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research)$vno. w9471. 606 $aMarket Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance$2jelc 606 $aAntitrust Issues and Policies$2jelc 615 7$aMarket Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance 615 7$aAntitrust Issues and Policies 686 $aL1$2jelc 686 $aL4$2jelc 700 $aGaynor$b Martin$0125959 701 $aVogt$b William B$0236684 712 02$aNational Bureau of Economic Research. 801 0$bMaCbNBER 801 1$bMaCbNBER 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910698306803321 996 $aCompetition Among Hospitals$93389956 997 $aUNINA