Economies of scope in the Norwegian public hospital sector.

Autor: Lindaas NA; Department of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 8905, Trondheim, 7491, Norway. nils.a.lindaas@ntnu.no., Anthun KS; Department of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 8905, Trondheim, 7491, Norway.; Department of Health Research, SINTEF Digital, P.O. Box 4760, Torgarden, Trondheim, 7465, Norway., Kittelsen SAC; Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research, Gaustadalléen 21, Oslo, 0349, Norway.; Department of Health Management and Health Economics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1089, Blindern, Oslo, 0317, Norway., Magnussen J; Department of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 8905, Trondheim, 7491, Norway.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care [Eur J Health Econ] 2024 Jul 18. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 18.
DOI: 10.1007/s10198-024-01704-z
Abstrakt: This study investigates the potential economies of scope in the Norwegian public hospital sector after a major structural and organizational reform. Economies of scope refers to potential cost savings occurring from the scope of production rather than the scale. We use a data driven approach to distinguish between relatively specialized and differentiated hospitals. Using registry data spanning the period 2013-2019, we use non-parametric data envelopment analysis with bootstrapping procedures to investigate the potential presence of economies of scope. This is done separately for three different dimensions of which hospital production can be either specialized or differentiated. The findings suggest that economies of scope are present in the Norwegian hospital sector, meaning that there are cost savings related to the optimal differentiation of the activity. It is difficult to conclude on how these findings relate to the reform.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE