Testing for Ownership Mix Efficiency: The Case of the Nursing Home Industry

This paper offers an empirical test of ownership mix efficiency in the U.S. nursing home industry. We test to compare the benefits of quality assurance with the costs from the attenuation of property rights that result from an increased presence of nonprofit organizations. The empirical results suggest that too few nonprofit nursing homes may exist in the typical market area of the U.S. The policy implication is that more quality of care per dollar might be obtained by attracting a greater percentage of nonprofit nursing homes into most market areas.