Social Insurance, Organization and Hospital Care

Abstract: This thesis consists of four chapters where chapter 1 introduces the topics in the following chapters and discusses some related literature. Chapter 2 moves beyond the disability insurance with two types, able and disabled, in Parsons (1996). This is done in two ways: by introducing a third type, the partially disabled, and by allowing for a continuum of types. It is assumed throughout that the individuals have state-dependent utility of consumption. The results are in essence consistent with Parsons: individuals should be given incentives to work in line with their ability and this leaves room for being more generous towards the targeted group(s). The continuous model, however, opens up for using a broader range of incentives than in the discrete models. Chapter 3 uses the basics from the property rights approach to organization (Grossman-Hart-Moore model) to develop a model for trilateral trade transactions. In this transaction a downstream producer produces the final good using inputs from two upstream suppliers. Moreover one of the upstream suppliers needs an input from the other for its production. The optimal way to organize this transaction depends on the characteristics of assets, human capital and investments. The general finding is that it is more demanding to find a unique Pareto optimal organization in the trilateral model than in the bilateral version of the model. In addition, it is found that the starting point for the analysis affects the results, suggesting that choosing suitable starting points is important for applications of the model. Chapter 4 presents a novel way to analyze the organization of hospitals, with special focus on public hospitals. The novelty is that the property rights approach to organization (PRA) is used to analyze the problem. It is proposed that PRA is suitable for the analysis of all hospitals and especially so for public hospitals. The analysis explores issues concerning privatization and integration of public hospital services. The findings are generally supportive of integration as long as the public principal's human capital is essential for the production of hospital care.