In this paper we use published information to provide analyze the economic value of Direct to Consumer (DTC) advertising. We use information on: the effect of DTC in generating patient visits; the effect of patient visits and mentions of a drug in generating prescriptions; and the effect of...

This was the first paper to discuss the benefits of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1985. The authors are Alison Masson (AKA Alison Keith) and Paul H. Rubin, and the paper was written when the authors were economists at the Federal...

An agency conflict arises when consumers rely on middlemen for product recommendations. While consumers want the middlemen to recommend the most suitable product, the middlemen may earn a higher profit if the consumer buys some other product. An important setting where this conflict arises is...