title: Soft budget constraints in China: evidence from the Guangdong hospital industry.
abstract: Using data from 276 general acute hospitals in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province from 2002 and 2004, we construct a preliminary metric of budget constraint softness. We find that, controlling for hospital size, ownership, and other factors, a Chinese hospital's probability of receiving government financial support is inversely associated with the hospital's previous net revenue, an association consistent with soft budget constraints.
authors.affiliation: Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University, 616 Serra St., Encina Hall E311, Stanford, CA 94305-6055, USA. karene@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eggleston
authors.forename: Yu-Chu
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Mingshan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Congdong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002017:Budgets / Q000379:methods*; D002681:China; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000191:economics*; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics