Cost-Containment Policies and Hospital Efficiency: Evidence from a Panel of Italian Hospitals

28 Pages Posted: 12 Apr 2012

See all articles by Vincenzo Atella

Vincenzo Atella

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Centre for International Studies on Economic Growth (CEIS); Department of Economics and Finance; University of Rome Tor Vergata - Faculty of Economics

Federico Belotti

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Department of Economics and Finance; University of Rome, Tor Vergata - Centre for Economics and International Studies (CEIS)

Silvio Daidone

United Nations - Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Luiss Guido Carli University

Giuseppe Ilardi

Bank of Italy

Giorgia Marini

University of Rome La Sapienza

Date Written: April 11, 2012

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to evaluate to which extent the set of national and regional cost control policies implemented in recent years in Italy have affected hospital activity. Our contribution is mainly empirical as we focus our attention on the impact that policies like hospital mergers and regional bailout plans had on inefficiency. We use a rich longitudinal sample of Italian hospitals over the period 1999-2007 and perform a Bayesian analysis of the random-efffects stochastic frontier model proposed by Greene (2005), allowing for a one-step estimation of both production frontier parameters and inefficiency effects. Results show that hospital inefficiency has changed over time and that part of this change could be ascribed to the mentioned policies.

Keywords: Hospital efficiency, Stochastic frontiers, Bayesian inference, Policy evaluation

JEL Classification: C23, I11, L23

Suggested Citation

Atella, Vincenzo and Belotti, Federico and Daidone, Silvio and Ilardi, Giuseppe and Marini, Giorgia, Cost-Containment Policies and Hospital Efficiency: Evidence from a Panel of Italian Hospitals (April 11, 2012). CEIS Working Paper No. 228, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2038398 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2038398

Vincenzo Atella (Contact Author)

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Centre for International Studies on Economic Growth (CEIS) ( email )

Via Columbia, 2
Rome, I-00133
Italy
+39 06 72595648 (Phone)

Department of Economics and Finance ( email )

Via Columbia 2
Roma, 00133
Italy

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Faculty of Economics ( email )

Via Columbia n.2
I-00133 Rome, 00133
Italy
+39 06 72595635 (Phone)
+30 06 2020 500 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/sefemeq/professori/atella/

Federico Belotti

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Department of Economics and Finance

Via Columbia 2
Rome, RM 00133
Italy

University of Rome, Tor Vergata - Centre for Economics and International Studies (CEIS) ( email )

Via Columbia, 2
Rome, RM 00133
Italy

Silvio Daidone

United Nations - Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) ( email )

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome, Lazio 00153
Italy

Luiss Guido Carli University

Via O. Tommasini 1
Rome, Roma 00100
Italy

Giuseppe Ilardi

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
Rome, 00184
Italy

Giorgia Marini

University of Rome La Sapienza ( email )

Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
Roma, Rome 00185
Italy

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