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The Effect of Pharmacies’ Right to Negotiate Discounts on the Market Share of Parallel Imported Pharmaceuticals

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  • Granlund David

    (Department of Economics, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden)

Abstract

This paper analyzes how allowing pharmacies to negotiate discounts with parallel traders and producers affects the market share for parallel imports. Economic theory predicts that discount negotiations will promote products bought directly from the producers because producers have cost advantages, due to which they always underbid the marginal prices of parallel traders. A reform that allowed discount negotiations is found to reduce the market share for parallel imports by about 11 percentage points to reach 31%. The results clearly indicate that pharmacies have an important role in the choice between medically equivalent pharmaceuticals.

Suggested Citation

  • Granlund David, 2015. "The Effect of Pharmacies’ Right to Negotiate Discounts on the Market Share of Parallel Imported Pharmaceuticals," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(3), pages 1197-1235, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:15:y:2015:i:3:p:1197-1235:n:9
    DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2014-0079
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Granlund, David, 2009. "Are private physicians more likely to veto generic substitution of prescribed pharmaceuticals?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 1643-1650, December.
    2. Ganslandt, Mattias & Maskus, Keith E., 2004. "Parallel imports and the pricing of pharmaceutical products: evidence from the European Union," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 1035-1057, September.
    3. Keith E. Maskus & Yongmin Chen, 2004. "Vertical Price Control and Parallel Imports: Theory and Evidence," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 551-570, September.
    4. Ching, Andrew T., 2010. "Consumer learning and heterogeneity: Dynamics of demand for prescription drugs after patent expiration," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 619-638, November.
    5. Judith K. Hellerstein, 1998. "The Importance of the Physician in the Generic Versus Trade-Name Prescription Decision," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(1), pages 108-136, Spring.
    6. Pecorino, Paul, 2002. "Should the US allow prescription drug reimports from Canada?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 699-708, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Izhak, Olena, 2019. "Extra costs of integrity: Pharmacy markups and generic substitution in Finland," DICE Discussion Papers 307, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    drugs; incentives; margins; parallel imports; parallel trade; pharmacies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L65 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Chemicals; Rubber; Drugs; Biotechnology; Plastics

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