Abstract：
This study investigates the potential economies of scope in the Norwegian public hospital sector after a major structural and organizational reform. Economies of scope refers to potential cost savings occurring from the scope of production rather than the scale. We use a data driven approach to distinguish between relatively specialized and differentiated hospitals. Using registry data spanning the period 2013-2019, we use non-parametric data envelopment analysis with bootstrapping procedures to investigate the potential presence of economies of scope. This is done separately for three different dimensions of which hospital production can be either specialized or differentiated. The findings suggest that economies of scope are present in the Norwegian hospital sector, meaning that there are cost savings related to the optimal differentiation of the activity. It is difficult to conclude on how these findings relate to the reform.
摘要：
这项研究调查了经过重大结构和组织改革后挪威公立医院部门的潜在范围经济。范围经济是指从生产范围而不是规模发生的潜在成本节约。我们使用数据驱动的方法来区分相对专业化和差异化的医院。使用2013-2019年期间的注册数据，我们使用非参数数据包络分析和自举程序来调查范围经济的潜在存在。这是针对三个不同的维度分别完成的，医院的生产可以是专业化的或差异化的。研究结果表明，挪威医院部门存在范围经济，这意味着与活动的最佳差异化相关的成本节约。很难得出这些发现与改革有何关系的结论。
