In this paper, the impact of increased information on brand name and generic pharmaceutical prices is analyzed both theoretically and empirically. The theoretical results show that an increase in information is likely to reduce the price of brand name pharmaceuticals, while the results regarding...

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of the deregulation of the Norwegian pharmaceuticals market in 2001 on costs and availability of pharmaceutical products. Data has been collected from the annual reports of a sample of Norwegian pharmacies before and after the deregulation of the...

Introduction: In 2009, the Swedish pharmaceuticals market was reformed. One of the stated policy goals was to achieve low costs for pharmaceutical products dispensed in Sweden. Methods: Prices and sales data for off-patent brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals have been collected, and a...

What has been the effect of competition from parallel imports on prices of locally-sourced onpatent drugs? Did the 2002 Swedish mandatory substitution reform increase this competition? To answer these questions, we carried out difference-in-differences estimation on monthly data for a panel of...

We study how the optimal public provision of health care depends on whether or not individuals have an option to seek publicly financed treatment in other regions. We find that, relative to the first-best solution, the government has an incentive to over-provide health care to low-income...

The market share for parallel imports when pharmacies can negotiate discounts with parallel traders and sellers of locally sourced products is analyzed both theoretically and empirically. The theoretical model shows that, with discount negotiations, pharmacies will sell locally sourced products...

In October 2002 a substitution reform was introduced in the Swedish Pharmaceuticals market. In this note, the effects of increased price competition due to the reform on the entry of new pharmaceutical products were studied. The results show that the reform did affect the entry behavior of...

Given the cost of trade and availability of pharmaceuticals, the driving force for parallel trade is the price difference between the source (exporting) and the destination (importing) country. An increase in the price difference or in the availability of pharmaceuticals for parallel trade...

The price effects of the Swedish pharmaceutical substitution reform are analyzed using data for a panel of all pharmaceutical product sold in Sweden in 1997--2007. The price reduction due to the reform was estimated to average 10% and was found to be significantly larger for brand name...

The purpose of this paper is to test if consumer loyalty is stronger toward brand name prharmaceutical products and branded generics as compared to "true" generics in the Swedish pharmaceutical market. The results show that consumers are equally loyal toward brand name pharmaceuticals and...