How Purchasing Decisions are Made in the Mixed Economy of Community Care |
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Authors: | Russell Mannion & Peter Smith |
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Institution: | Centre for Health Economics, University of York,;Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York |
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Abstract: | Under the 'Community Care' programme, English local authorities have become responsible for assessing the needs of those affected by problems associated with ageing, mental illness, learning difficulties or physical disability. They also have the responsibility of designing a suitable package of care for the individual, and for purchasing that care from a range of statutory, voluntary and private providers. This paper focuses on how purchasing decisions in community care are made. Concepts such as trust and reputation are found to be very important, and the paper therefore argues that the new economic sociology offers a more appropriate theoretical framework for examining the new market than the conventional neoclassical critique. |
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Keywords: | community care new economic sociology quasi-markets competition |
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