On Making the Illustration Illustrative: A Comment on Banker, Conrad and Strauss

Hospitals are firms which produce multiple outputs. Taking account of the multiproduct nature of the firm is important for appropriate analyses of hospital technology to be conducted. This paper comments on a recent study which was aimed at comparing two methods of analyzing hospital costs which incorporate multiple outputs and inputs. The comment focuses on how outputs are defined and problems related to aggregation of outputs. Limitations on the ability to interpret results reported by Banker, Conrad and Strauss are identified. (August 1988)