Psychiatric Hospital Ownership and Performance: Do Nonprofit Organizations Offer Advantages in Markets Characterized by Asymmetric Information?
利用1984-1989年加州精神病院数据，实证检验所有权（非营利vs营利）对护理质量的影响，发现非营利医院在信息不对称市场中可能提供更好的质量保护，但效率无差异。
Nonprofit organizations have been hypothesized as being preferable to for-profit organizations in markets characterized by asymmetric information, such as the market for mental health care services. This paper empirically examines whether ownership affects the quality of private psychiatric hospital care. A quality deviation function and a frontier cost function are specified and estimated using data on psychiatric hospitals in California for the years 1984-1989. The results suggest that nonprofit hospitals may provide protection against asymmetric information relative to their for-profit counterparts. No difference in efficiency was found by ownership.