Sofia Lundberg

Per-Olov Johansson

Centre for Economic Policy Research (Great Britain)

Giancarlo Spagnolo

Mats Bergman

Non-contractible quality dimensions are at risk of degradation when the provision of public services is privatized. However, privatization may increase quality by fostering performance-improving innovation, particularly if combined with increased competition. We assemble a large data set on elderly care services in Sweden between 1990 and 2009 and estimate how opening to private provision affected mortality rates -- an important and not easily contractible quality dimension -- using a difference-in-difference-in-difference approach. The results indicate that privatization and the associated increase in competition significantly improved non-contractible quality as measured by mortality rates. It also reduced the cost per resident, although left total cost unaffected.

Evidence from Elderly Care in Sweden

Privatization and Quality

Bengt Kriström

This important book sheds light on the ways in which modern tools of welfare economics can be used to assess the benefits and costs of resource conflicts involving hydropower. The chapters highlight key methodological issues in this area; ranging from the intersection between cost-benefit analysis and behavioral economics, to the value of load balancing services provided by hydropower. The inclusion of insights from expert contributors from both sides of the Atlantic brings a unique and interesting range of viewpoints to the work.Several factors suggest that resource conflicts involving moving water are likely to be even more difficult to resolve today than they have been in the past. The contributors, top scholars in resource economics, consider a variety of issues through the lens of cost-benefit analysis. In the first part ofthe book, they address specific cases and issues from North America and Europe. The book closes with a more general look at the topic.

Per-Olov Johansson

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