As such, a market also can be considered a self-adjusting financial incentive device that impacts the behaviour of each producer and purchaser so that both parties agree on the terms of an exchange.
Quasi-markets are also an exchange system; they aim to comply with the characteristics of competitive markets by attempting to be self-correcting, inducement structures that impact purchasers and producers' behaviours.
In terms of demand,"Quasi-markets are structured to create and enhance consumer benefits and advantages, requiring producers to be responsive to the given alternatives.
[5] A notable example would be the NHS Internal Market introduced by the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990: under this system, the purchase and provision of healthcare in the UK was split up, with government-funded GP fundholders "purchasing" healthcare from NHS trusts and district health authorities, who competed against one another for the fundholding GPs' custom.
There was a marginal rise in the rate of increase in NHS productivity, to set against higher transaction costs, but healthcare remained free at the point of service and financed through taxation.
In October 2014 a row broke out over whether University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust should be allowed to turn away patients from outside its immediate catchment area.
Quasi-markets have been criticised for a number of reasons, including the fact that they might not allow for fair competition between public and private operators and that they might lead to unequal access to services for more disadvantaged people or communities.