Does Market Power Encourage or Discourage Investment? Evidence from the Hospital Market

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Law and Economics
Year: 2020
Volume: 63
Issue: 4
Pages: 667 - 698

Authors (2)

Elena Patel (not in RePEc) Nathan Seegert (University of Utah)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Does market power encourage or discourage investment? This is an open question due to theoretical ambiguity and empirical difficulties. The answer is particularly important in the hospital market, where market power has increased dramatically since the 1990s. To answer this, we exploit an investment tax shock and data on the universe of US hospitals. We find a negative relationship between competition and investment. In particular, hospitals in concentrated markets increased investment by 5.1 percent ($2.5 million) more than firms in competitive markets in response to tax incentives. Further, firms’ investment responses monotonically increased with market concentration.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/709556
Journal Field
Industrial Organization
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29