Conservation or disappearance? The public provider of home care services in a system of choice

This article aims to analyse the position of the public provider (i.e. share of recipients) of home-care services in Swedish municipalities with marketization: a system of choice. Following the literature, an assumption is that the public provider has difficulties in surviving the competition with private home-care providers. In addition, the relevancy of this assumption could differ between different municipal settings. To test this assumption, we use statistical analysis. The main result is that the public provider is a 'strong player' in most municipalities experiencing marketization. However, there exists a variation in this respect - the position varies between municipalities.

Automated summary

This article analyzes the position of the public provider in the marketization of home-care services in Swedish municipalities. The statistical analysis shows that the public provider is a strong player in most municipalities, but there is variation in its position.