Since the 2000s, private equity (PE) firms have been actively acquiring nursing homes (NH). This has sparked concerns that with stronger profit motive and aggressive use of debt financing, PE ownership may tradeoff quality for higher profits. To empirically address this policy concern, we construct a panel dataset of all for-profit NHs in Ohio from 2005 to 2010 and link it with detailed resident-level data. We compare the quality of care provided to long-stay residents at PE NHs and other for-profit (non-PE) NHs. To account for unobservable resident selection, we use differential distance to the nearest PE NH relative to the nearest non-PE NH in an instrumental variables approach with and without NH fixed effects. In contrast to concerns of the public regarding quality deterioration associated with PE ownership, we find that PE ownership does not lead to lower quality for long-stay NH residents, at least in the medium term.

中文翻译：

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私募股权和养老院质量：一种工具变量方法。

自2000年代以来，私募股权（PE）公司一直在积极收购养老院（NH）。这引发了人们的担忧，即随着更强的利润动机和积极使用债务融资，私募股权的所有权可能会牺牲质量来换取更高的利润。为了从经验上解决这一政策问题，我们构建了一个2005年至2010年俄亥俄州所有营利性NH的面板数据集，并将其与详细的居民级数据相链接。我们比较了为PE NHs和其他营利性（非PE）NHs的长期居民提供的护理质量。为了解决无法观察到的居民选择问题，我们在有和没有NH固定效应的工具变量方法中，使用了距离最近的PE NH相对于最近的非PE NH的距离。与公众对与PE所有权相关的质量下降的担忧相反，