Strategic behaviour and decision making in competitive hospital markets: an experimental investigation.

ABSTRACT: We investigate quality provision and the occurrence of strategic behaviour in competitive hospital markets where providers are assumed to be semi-altruistic towards patients. For this, we employ a laboratory experiment with a hospital market framing. Subjects decide on the quality levels for one of three competing hospitals respectively. We vary the organizational aspect of whether quality decisions within hospitals are made by individuals or teams. Realized monetary patient benefits go to real patients outside the lab. In both settings, we find that degrees of cooperation quickly converge towards negative values, implying absence of collusion and patient centred or competitive quality choices. Moreover, hospitals treat quality as a strategic complement and adjust their quality choice in t

SUBMITTER: Han J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11445323 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature