Tilburg University promotie PhD Defense

PhD Defense K. Katona

Date: Time: 13:30 Location: Portraits room

Managed Competition in Practice: Lessons for Healthcare Policy

This dissertation contributes to a better understanding of healthcare markets by discussing policy relevant issues in a managed competition setting. Managed competition is a regulatory principle of healthcare policy implemented in a number of countries, such as The Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. The basic idea of managed competition is that efficiency and equity in healthcare can be achieved by the right combination of competition and regulation. Regulation should always be a reaction to failures or imperfections of competition, which suggests a dynamic healthcare regulation instead of a set of rigid rules.

This dissertation analyses five regulatory questions focusing on market characteristics typical in healthcare, like mandatory insurance, bargaining between insurers and healthcare providers, and asymmetric information between market players. Although these characteristics may be present in other markets as well, they require attention of policy makers because they may change the results compared to text book cases.

Katalin Katona earned her master's degree in Economics from Corvinus University in Budapest. After a short period of market research consultancy in Hungary, she moved to the Netherlands. Since 2007, she has been working at the Dutch Healthcare Authority where she has been involved in different research projects on health insurance market and the hospital sector. Later she joined a PhD program for professionals at Tilburg University, which resulted in this dissertation. She is also an extramural member of Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC).

  • Location: Cobbenhagen building, Portraits room (access via Koopmans building)
  • Supervisor: Prof. J. Boone
  • Co-supervisor: Dr. C. Argenton