RELATIVE INEFFICIENCIES IN PRODUCTION BETWEEN SOLO AND GROUP-PRACTICEPHYSICIANS

Hearth economists have hypothesized for some time that physicians prod uce medical care in an inefficient manner. Further, whether solo or gr oup practice physicians are relatively more inefficient has been a que stion of particular interest. Theoretical considerations suggest that solo and group practice physicians face different behavioural and prod uction constraints, implying that they may produce care at different l evels of efficiency; which is more efficient is an empirical question. We employed stochastic production frontier estimation to address this issue. (C) 1997 by John Whey & Sons, Ltd.