Spatial dependence in hospitals efficiency : spatial econometric approach for Ecuadorian public hospitals

Abstract

This collection includes a selection of research by students of the PhD Program in Applied Economics (UAB) and the Master of Applied Research in Economics and Business (MAREB) - specialization in Applied Economics

This study aims to analyze whether the efficiency of Ecuadorian public hospitals experiences spatial dependence. The paper explores the question of whether demand variations are affecting the public hospitals' efficiency performance through direct and spillover effects, especially after the adoption of the new constitution in 2008. We exploit a two-stage approach, wherein the first stage we use an innovative panel-data DEA to estimate the hospital efficiency; a spatial econometric framework is then applied to disentangle direct and spillover effects. The results confirm positive spatial interactions among public hospitals' efficiency, and positive direct and spillover effects coming from demand increases, that got reinforced after 2008