We use national data from 1960 to 2000 to estimate the demand for pharmaceuticals in the United States. We then simulate consumer surplus gains from a hypothetical drug price control policy that would have limited drug price increases to the rate of inflation from 1981 to 2000. Using a range of...

Examines the issue of higher tax rates leads to a larger market share for nonprofit hospitals by using a panel data set. Finds that higher state corporate income and local property tax rates lead to a greater market share for nonprofit hospitals.

The new drug cost offset theory argues that new drugs pay for themselves by keeping people out of expensive medical facilities. However, few studies have tested this theory at the macroeconomic level to determine if system-wide savings actually accrue. This article provides two tests of the new...

This study examines if health care costs in the United States are affected by Baumol's cost disease. It relies on an empirical test proposed by Hartwig (2008) and extended by Colombier (2010) and uses a panel data set of 50 states over the 1980–2009 period. The results suggest that health care...

This paper uses a panel data set of Connecticut communities to offer several empirical insights into the economics of local public health services. First, the demand characteristics associated with local public health services are explored. Tax-share, income, and aid elasticities of local public...

This study examines the effect of interjurisdictional competition and city age, as a proxy for special interest group activities, on the size of city government. Unlike previous studies on the Leviathan theory, the empirical analysis is well grounded in a median-voter model. The empirical...

Given demographic trends, public policies in the future may be aimed at stimulating the availability of nursing home care in the U.S. This paper estimates how certificate of need laws, Medicaid reimbursement rates, and state corporate income tax rates affect the availability of nursing home care...