Anmerkungen:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments February 2, 2023 erstellt
Beschreibung:
Creating a public firm to compete with private firms is an increasingly debated intervention to address inefficiency in concentrated markets. I develop a mixed oligopoly model with alternative firm objectives and estimate it with consumer-level data from the California insurance exchange, where one-third of consumers have access to a public firm. In the best-fitting model, the public firm places more weight on consumer surplus than producer surplus. Adding a public firm decreases premiums, improves welfare in concentrated markets, and increases surplus the most for disadvantaged subpopulations. Enhancing subsidies for private plans, a leading alternative intervention, increases premiums and reduces welfare