Efficiency and Scale Economies in the Austrian and German Health Insurance Industry

Journal für Betriebswirtschaft, Nos. 5-6, pp. 282-294, 1996

Posted: 6 Feb 2012 Last revised: 15 Feb 2012

See all articles by Bernhard Mahlberg

Bernhard Mahlberg

Vienna University of Economics and Business - Institute for Production Management; Institute for Industrial Research (IWI)

Date Written: 1996

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to measure efficiency and economies of scale in the Austrian and German health insurance industry. These are important aspects of the competitiveness of the Austrian insurance companies in the light of the liberalization and opening of the insurance markets in the EU. With the aid of the Data Envelopment Analysis I have constructed an effi-ciency frontier to be used as a yardstick of productive efficiency. The sources of data were the annual reports of the years 1991 to 1993. As a result inefficiencies and economies of scale have been found, despite the fact that the most Austrian companies are more efficient than their German competitors. The average cost curve appears to be l-shaped, including a mini-mum efficient scale of about ATS 20 million of premium income. The Austrian companies act in the region of increasing return to scale.

Keywords: insurance, efficiency, economies of scale

Suggested Citation

Mahlberg, Bernhard and Mahlberg, Bernhard, Efficiency and Scale Economies in the Austrian and German Health Insurance Industry (1996). Journal für Betriebswirtschaft, Nos. 5-6, pp. 282-294, 1996, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1999359

Bernhard Mahlberg (Contact Author)

Institute for Industrial Research (IWI) ( email )

Mittersteig 10/4
Vienna, 1050
Austria
+43 1 513 44 11 0 (Phone)
+43 1 513 44 11 2099 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.iwi.ac.at/

Vienna University of Economics and Business - Institute for Production Management ( email )

Welthandelsplatz 1
Building D2, Entrance C, 3rd floor
Vienna, 1020
Austria
+43 1 313 36 - 5615 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.wu.ac.at/en/prodmanengl/

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