Empirical study on the economies of scope of military hospitals based on panel data / 第二军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective: To measure the economies of scope of military hospitals in China. Methods: We collected the panel data of 2005 to 2007 from 57 military hospitals, based on which we constructed the pooled regression model and time fixed effect regression model. The best cost function model was selected according to the result of hypothesis testing, and the model of economies of scope was constructed according to the conception of economies of scope. Then the parameters were estimated by econometric methods, and the coefficient estimates were used to calculate the economies of scope of hospitals of each category. Results: The hypothesis testing results of the two models showed that the pooled regression model was superior to the time fixed effect model. All the military hospitals included in the present study showed economies of scope; the larger and higher level the hospitals, the stronger economies of scope was. Conclusion: Large-scale hospitals can achieve better economies of scope by developing highly relevant main bussiness.