A market is generally defined as a set of firms or individuals selling similar (or at least partially substitutable) goods or services to a given set of consumers. Under some basic conditions, competitive markets yield Pareto optimal outcomes (The First Optimality Theorem). As a result, policymakers and regulators have generally favored competition and prohibited and
The nursing workforce in the US is comprised of both professional nurses and nonprofessional workers. Professional nurses typically complete nursing education in a hospital-based diploma program, community college or university and are registered and licensed by the state to practice nursing. Professional nurses also include advanced practice nurses (APRNs) who are registered nurses (RNs) that
Introduction The US, like the Netherlands and Switzerland, among other nations, relies primarily on private health insurance to finance and reimburse for medical care. In fact, approximately 64% of the nonelderly US population enrolled in private health insurance plans in 2011. This figure is down dramatically from its height of 76% in the mid-1970s. Some
This article reviews econometric techniques and studies aimed at characterizing the market structure in the health sector. It focuses on the following issues: (1) the effect of competition on hospital quality, efficiency, and prices (if they are not fixed by a regulator); (2) differences in behavior that arise from different types of ownership status (non-profit