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Reimbursing for the costs of teaching and research in finnish hospitals: A stochastic frontier analysis

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Abstract

In this study stochastic frontier cost function was used to estimate the teaching and research costs of Finnish hospitals. Predicted efficiency adjusted costs were calculated and compared to evaluate the current level of teaching and research reimbursement. The efficiency adjustment had significant impact on the marginal and average cost estimates of the teaching and research output.

The results suggest that the average rate of teaching and research reimbursement should be approximately 14.6% of the total operating costs in university teaching hospitals. The main finding was that the university teaching hospitals were underfunded with respect to both research and teaching output.

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Author notes

  1. Miika Linna

    Present address: Miika Linna National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Lintulahdenkuja 4, P.O. BOX 220 00531, Helsinki, Finland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Health Economics at Stakes (CHESS), National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland

    Miika Linna & Unto Häkkinen

Authors
  1. Miika Linna
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  2. Unto Häkkinen
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Correspondence to Miika Linna.

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JEL Code C14 . C23 . D24 . I10

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Linna, M., Häkkinen, U. Reimbursing for the costs of teaching and research in finnish hospitals: A stochastic frontier analysis. Int J Health Care Finance Econ 6, 83–97 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10754-006-6256-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10754-006-6256-z

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