Antitrust Treatment of Nonprofits: Should Hospitals Receive Special Care?

Nonprofit hospitals receive certain tax benefits in exchange for providing socially beneficial services. Extending this rationale could suggest that mergers for nonprofit hospitals should be evaluated differently than those of for‐profit hospitals because suppression of competition may also allow nonprofits to cross‐subsidize care for the poor. Partner Cory Capps and co-authors examine whether nonprofit hospitals are more likely than for‐profit hospitals to provide charity care or to offer unprofitable services in response to increased market power.

This article won the 2020 Best EI Article Award. See more on the Economic Inquiry website.