Vaccinations against life-threatening diseases are one of the greatest public health achievements in history. Literally millions of deaths have been prevented, and manifold more saved from disfiguring illness. While vaccinations carry inevitable risks, the medical, social and economic benefits...

We examine the effect of charge-price-transparency regulation (PTR) — a common policy solution intended to curb rising healthcare costs — on hospitals’ prices. We find that although PTR does not affect payments or consumer search, it does cause hospitals to reduce charges by approximately...

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...

The G8 is considering committing to purchase vaccines against diseases concentrated in low-income countries (if and when desirable vaccines are developed) as a way to spur research and development on vaccines for these diseases. Under such an "advance market commitment," one or more sponsors...

We analyze the influence of technological progress on pharmaceuticals on rising health expenditures using US State level panel data. Improvements in medical technology are believed to be partly responsible for rapidly rising health expenditures. Even if the technological progress in medicine...

We analyze the influence of technological progress on pharmaceuticals on rising health expenditures using US State level panel data. Improvements in medical technology are believed to be partly responsible for rapidly rising health expenditures. Even if the technological progress in medicine...

Patents are often portrayed as the necessary reward to compensate pharmaceutical firms for the huge costs and risks associated with Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-mandated clinical trials of new drugs. But the relationship between the patent system and other regulation of drugs is more...

India has long been a central front in the struggle for access to affordable medicines. Because of its dynamic generic pharmaceutical industry, it has become what Médecins Sans Frontières has called the “Pharmacy of the Developing World” (MSF 2007). As a result, it has also been a key...

We use a natural experiment in China’s health care reform, in which the government mandated zero markups for drugs sold in public hospitals, to study physician-induced demand for medical care. We develop a theoretical model that robustly predicts that the drug price zero markup policy (ZMP)...

The generic drug market has experienced extensive growth in the United States in the last few decades. This has meant a more prominent role for generic prescriptions in medical treatment and in the debate on health care expenditures. The interest has translated to extensive research on the...