Quality and Welfare in a Mixed Duopoly with Regulated Prices: The Case of a Public and a Private Hospital

Abstract. Hospital markets are often characterized by price regulation and the existence of different ownership types. Using a Hotelling framework, this paper analyses the effect of heterogeneous objectives of hospitals on quality differentiation, profits and overall welfare in a price‐regulated duopoly with exogenous symmetric locations. In contrast to other studies on mixed duopolies, this paper shows that, in this framework, privatization of the public hospital may increase overall welfare. This holds if the public hospital is similar to the private hospital or less efficient and competition is low. The main driving force is the single‐regulated price which induces under‐provision (over‐provision) of quality of the more (less) efficient hospital compared with the first best. However, if the public hospital is sufficiently more efficient and competition is fierce, a mixed duopoly outperforms both a private and a public duopoly due to an equilibrium price below (above) the price of the private (public) duopoly. This medium price discourages over‐provision of quality of the less efficient hospital and – together with the non‐profit objective – encourages an increase in quality of the more efficient public hospital.     

Der US-Dollar als Leitwährung – alternativlos?

The importance of the industrialized countries – including the USA – for world production has been declining for a long time. By contrast, China’s share in particular has increased significantly. Nevertheless, the US dollar has largely fulfilled the criteria for a leading currency function so far, even if this is increasingly criticised due to the protectionist rhetoric of the US. Accordingly, central banks worldwide hold their reserves primarily in US dollars and transactions are largely conducted in US currency. This position brings great advantages–such as making it easier for the US to monitor and enforce sanctions, among other things–and therefore great incentives for the US to maintain its position as the leading currency. Whether other currencies, especially the renminbi, will be able to fulfil the lead currency function is questionable. Similarly, it does not seem realistic that market participants will be able to engage in a global currency.     

Determining the economic gains from regulation at the extensive and intensive margins

Among the second-best approaches for the regulation of pollution,little attention has been paid to the distorting effect of intensivemargin policies on the extensive margin. This article shows,within a dynamic framework, that regulation of the intensivemargin has to be complemented by regulation of the extensivemargin. Depending on the elasticity of the pollution functionwith respect to nitrogen use, the appropriate regulation atthe extensive margin is zero, a tax or a subsidy. We show empiricallythat combining a nitrogen tax with land-use taxes is about 18per cent more cost efficient than a nitrogen tax alone and 58per cent more efficient than off-site abatement in the formof groundwater treatment.     

High growth in China—Transition without a transition crisis?

Unlike other transition economies the People's Republic of China has so far not only avoided a severe transition crisis; it has apparently also managed to make economic transition a source of growth. However, the country now faces a number of crucial transition problems that centre around the debt situation of state-owned enterprises and the fragile condition of the financial system. Could these problems, for which solutions have repeatedly been postponed, trigger a late transition crisis?     

中国经济的高速增长--不具转型危机的转型?

高投资需求是中国经济增长的主要动力。国有企业可能因三种因素而触发转型危机：现有亏损和坏账的真实数据比目前的统计数据恐怕要高;如果继续拖延国有企业重组,如果保持、甚至转化预算约束,如果债务升级,那私长期债务积累的危险将会增加;如果货币、财政和工业政策出现急转弯,对国有企业实行硬预算,而赞成大批企业倒闭、失业急剧上升、投资减少及金融体系重大冲击。要避免转型危机,就必须把渐进转型所“创造”的时间果断用于推动重组。财政扩张对需求会有短期影响,抵抗通货紧缩,而不赞成通货膨胀压力,但对未来能否保持持续增长在很大程度上取决于消费者和投资者的行为。     

中国的金融体系:运行方式和改革压力

改革开放以来，中国的经济出现了高速增长，人均收入也有了明显增加，80年代末－90年低初虽然出现了较为严重的通货膨胀，但最终都得以抑制，其后出现的通货紧缩，以及国内生产总值增长率在较长时间内的下降，也都得以克服，计划经济向货币经济过度的关键一步是以货币预算约束取代计划来建立经济的内在联系，在这一过程中，中国经济还存在着多方面的问题，中国当前的改革必须以国有企业和银行部门的重组为中心，只有密切结合这两个领域的改革，改革才会取得成功。     

ECB monetary policy during the “Weak Euro” period of 1999/2001

The European Central Bank has often been accused of lacking transparency in the conduct of its monetary policy. This article analyses the theoretical strategy of the ECB and compares it with the policy actually pursued. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations made for future policy.     

Transfer Pricing for the Rest of Us

Transfer pricing is a frequently discussed but often misunderstood aspect of international business. This article describes what it is, its legitimate functions in accounting for international intra-firm transactions, and its use by corporations for tax optimization. However, there may be mitigating factors that make efforts to optimize taxes more apparent than real. The issues of transfer pricing require sophisticated economic analysis for understanding and resolution, particularly as they relate to the internal and external pricing environment faced by a firm and the principles of profit allocation among different parts of a firm.     

Neue Geldpolitik der Europäischen Zentralbank?

Im Zuge der Griechenlandkrise hat die EZB zu unkonventionellen Ma?nahmen gegriffen: Sie akzeptiert Wertpapiere mit geringem Qualit?tsniveau als Sicherheiten und kauft Staatsanleihen. Dies l?sst befürchten, dass die EZB Reputation verliert und Moral-Hazard-Probleme entstehen. Die Liquidit?tssteuerung w?hrend der Krise war eine gro?e Herausforderung für die Zentralbanken, die m?glicherweise die Bedeutung der externen Kommunikation untersch?tzen. Der liberalisierte Ordnungsrahmen für die Finanzm?rkte hat es ihnen allerdings schwerer gemacht hat, eine wirksame Geldpolitik zu betreiben.     

Europäische Währungsunion: schlecht gerüstet für große Krisen

Wirtschaftsdienst - Bereits vor der Corona-Krise zeigte die Europäische Währungsunion (EWU) eine unbefriedigende wirtschaftliche Entwicklung mit niedrigem Wachstum und zu geringer...