Simulated stable matching for urban hospitals and residential communities
Published in Applied Economics Letters, 2025
Abstract: This brief research applies the well-known two-sided matching theory to simulate stable matchings between urban hospitals and residential communities considering important factors, such as locations, services, and costs, and aiming to understand spatial interactions and population preferences in healthcare services. The simulation results from the empirical case for Hangzhou, China reveals that most matched hospital-community pairs vary with different population preferences on factor trade-offs in matching. However, some super pairs are consistently matched regardless of trade-offs after at least five rounds of stable matching. Compared with all feasible matchings, these super pairs are relatively concentrated in central urban areas with shorter spatial distances, lower housing prices per unit of living space, and comparable total utilities for corresponding communities.
Recommended citation: Huang, L., Shen, G., & Zhang, K. (2025). Simulated Stable Matching for Urban Hospitals and Residential Communities. Applied Economics Letters, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2025.2490723
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