Market definition is essential to merger analysis. Because no standard approach to market definition exists, opposing parties in antitrust cases often disagree about the extent of the market. These differences have been particularly relevant in the hospital industry, where the courts have denied seven of eight merger challenges since 1994, due largely to disagreements over geographic market definition. We compare geographic markets produced using common ad hoc methodologies to a method that directly applies the "SSNIP test" to hospitals in California using a structural model. Our results suggest that previously employed methods overstate hospital demand elasticities by a factor of 2.4 to 3.4 and define larger markets than would be implied by the merger guidelines's hypothetical monopolist test. The use of these methods in differentiated product industries may lead to mistaken geographic market delineation, and was likely a contributing factor to the permissive legal environment for hospital mergers.
The Handbook examines the most important issues that arise in antitrust economics. Leading scholars in the field provide detailed critical analysis of developments across a number of different antitrust topics along with a detailed review of the literature. The Handbook is invaluable as a research and teaching tool.
The biggest issue of economics in a hospital are the resource issues. A resource issue in hospitals creates many problems such as the excessive number of patients, poor service quality, lack of diagnostic tools and equipment, dirty and worn out facilities, long queues at the outpatient clinic, lack of drugs and other medical supplies, low employee morale, and so on. Hospital economics mention three main resource issues in as problems including; (1) Resource allocation issue, (2) Resource management issue, and (3) Generation resources issue. The main economic problem of resource allocation in hospitals are production and cost function. These two functions related to issues of equality and effectiveness of the hospital. This book specifically discusses on the aspect of hospital resource allocation by highlighting the productivity, competitiveness, cost components, economic burden of disease, and economic aspects of infectious diseases originating from the hospital. The resource management issue is related to the use of existing resources in terms of input and output. The main important economic concept is efficiency, both technical efficiency, economical, and scale, as well as the relationship between these concepts. The resource management issue highlight the economic scale, human resource development, quality development, and lean implementation. The issue of generation resources, includes how the hospital is able to get the resources to run operations without having to cover the access of stratum of community thus violating the principle of equality. This book will highlight the issue of generation resources by including a discussion of the revenue components of the hospital and the impact of DRGs.
Often described as a public policy “bible,” Weimer and Vining remains the essential primer it ever was. Now in its sixth edition, Policy Analysis provides a strong conceptual foundation of the rationales for and the limitations to public policy. It offers practical advice about how to do policy analysis, but goes a bit deeper to demonstrate the application of advanced analytical techniques through the use of case studies. Updates to this edition include: A chapter dedicated to distinguishing between policy analysis, policy research, stakeholder analysis, and research about the policy process. An extensively updated chapter on policy problems as market and governmental failure that explores the popularity of Uber and its consequences. The presentation of a property rights perspective in the chapter on government supply to help show the goal tensions that arise from mixed ownership. An entirely new chapter on performing analysis from the perspective of a public agency and a particular program within the agency’s portfolio: public agency strategic analysis (PASA). A substantially rewritten chapter on cost–benefit analysis, to better prepare students to become producers and consumers of the types of cost–benefit analyses they will encounter in regulatory analysis and social policy careers. A new introductory case with a debriefing that provides advice to help students immediately begin work on their own projects. Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practices remains a comprehensive, serious, and rich introduction to policy analysis for students in public policy, public administration, and business programs.
With the rise of digital platforms and the natural tendency of markets involving platforms to become concentrated, competition authorities and courts are more frequently in a position to investigate and decide merger and abuse cases that involve platforms. This report provides guidance on how to define markets and on how to assess market power when dealing with two-sided platforms. DEFINITION Competition authorities and courts are well advised to uniformly use a multi-markets approach when defining markets in the context of two-sided platforms. The multi-markets approach is the more flexible instrument compared to the competing single-market approach that defines a single market for both sides of a platform, as the former naturally accounts for different substitution possibilities by the user groups on the two sides of the platform. While one might think of conditions under which a single-market approach could be feasible, the necessary conditions are so severe that it would only be applicable under rare circumstances. To fully appreciate business activities in platform markets from a competition law point of view, and to do justice to competition law’s purpose, which is to protect consumer welfare, the legal concept of a “market” should not be interpreted as requiring a price to be paid by one party to the other. It is not sufficient to consider the activities on the “unpaid side” of the platform only indirectly by way of including them in the competition law analysis of the “paid side” of the platform. Such an approach would exclude certain activities and ensuing positive or negative effects on consumer welfare altogether from the radar of competition law. Instead, competition practice should recognize straightforwardly that there can be “markets” for products offered free of charge, i.e. without monetary consideration by those who receive the product. ASSESSMENT The application of competition law often requires an assessment of market power. Using market shares as indicators of market power, in addition to all the difficulties in standard markets, raises further issues for two-sided platforms. When calculating revenue shares, the only reasonable option is to use the sum of revenues on all sides of the platform. Then, such shares should not be interpreted as market shares as they are aggregated over two interdependent markets. Large revenue shares appear to be a meaningful indicator of market power if all undertakings under consideration serve the same sides. However, they are often not meaningful if undertakings active in the relevant markets follow different business models. Given potentially strong cross-group external effects, market shares are less apt in the context of two-sided platforms to indicate market power (or the lack of it). Barriers to entry are at the core of persistent market power and, thus, the entrenchment of incumbent platforms. They deserve careful examination by competition authorities. Barriers to entry may arise due to users’ coordination failure in the presence of network effect. On two-sided platforms, users on both sides of the market have to coordinate their expectations. Barriers to entry are more likely to be present if an industry does not attract new users and if it does not undergo major technological change. Switching costs and network effects may go hand in hand: consumer switching costs sometimes depend on the number of platform users and, in this case, barriers to entry from consumer switching costs increase with platform size. Since market power is related to barriers to entry, the absence of entry attempts may be seen as an indication of market power. However, entry threats may arise from firms offering quite different services, as long as they provide a new home for users’ attention and needs.
Marketing in Healthcare-Related Industries captures the concepts and complexities of marketing healthcare in today’s environment. The book provides detailed conceptual and practical insights that will be of great benefit to healthcare scholars and practitioners. Topics on healthcare marketing have been carefully selected to provide wide coverage and are illustrated by mini-cases with a highly practical marketing tool kit for healthcare managers included. The healthcare sector in the 21st century face a multiplicity of challenges, which include changing disease patterns, more technology-driven health interventions, a more assertive and quality conscious clientele, as well as a rapidly growing for-profit segment of the industry. This places more responsibilities on healthcare service providers in both the public and private sectors, to deliver value-for-money services at competitive costs. To respond to the changing business environment, a carefully crafted marketing approach is needed by all players in the industry to create value and sustain the confidence of clientele and stakeholders. Praise for Marketing in Healthcare-Related Industries: "Marketing in Healthcare-Related Industries is a timely book as the healthcare industry grows more customer-focused and faces increasing pressure to deliver high-quality service at more affordable costs. This book will serve as a roadmap for practitioners as it synthesizes insights from many marketing researchers into useful and actionable advice. It should also help students easily master the application of marketing principles to the healthcare industry with tools like review questions at the end of each chapter and mini-cases to apply marketing concepts." ~ Dr. Bruce A. Huhmann, Department Chair and Professor of Marketing, Virginia Commonwealth University "Marketing In Healthcare-related Industries could not have come at a better time. Just as the epidemiological and demographic transitions have changed the cycle of planning, resource allocation, delivering, monitoring and evaluating healthcare (especially in developing countries), shrinking domestic and donor resources for health, and ambitious agendas like the Universal Health Coverage 2030 Agenda, make it imperative that healthcare providers do more with less. This book provides a clear road map to a MARKETING TRANSITION, which links healthcare and marketing in a way hitherto not so clearly outlined. The Toolkit will be a valuable tool for undergraduate and graduate students in healthcare provision, as well as health practitioners who have traditionally not been trained in this area. I commend it highly as a must-read book in this area." ~ Dr. Victor Asare Bampoe - Former Deputy Minister of Health, Ghana and currently Director & Coordinator, Global Financing & Technical Support, Joint United Nation Programme on HIV&AIDS, Geneva "A truly remarkable scholarly work of our time. An easy-to-read and insightful book that captivates the reader, whether practitioner or student." ~ Dr. Abigail Mensah, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana "This book is well-written, easy-to-understand, and very up-to-date in its approach to marketing in healthcare-related industries. It is useful for undergraduate and graduate students as well as healthcare practitioners." ~ Dr. Gouher Ahmed, Professor of Strategic Leadership & International Business, Skyline University College, UAE
