Market performance

The project examines changes in the competitive situation in the private health services market over time and the impact of these changes on the supply of and demand for private medical services. The focus is on mergers and acquisitions of health care companies.

In particular, we investigate how mergers have affected the fees charged for visits to physicians involved in the merger and for visits to other physicians competing in the same market. We also strive to analyse how a merger affects both physicians’ treatment choices and patients’ choices of place of care. We additionally look at the evolution of demand and supply in the market in an alternative hypothetical scenario where the companies have not merged. The alternative scenarios (structural models) can be used to assess the welfare impacts of mergers. In the phase of the study, we will supplement the same data and examine the effects of price information on the functioning of competition and patients’ choices of place of care.

Partners: Kansaneläkelaitos, University of Turku School of Business, Aalto University, Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority

Responsible researcher: Tanja Saxell, [email protected], +358 295 519 460