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The price elasticity of demand for heroin: Matched longitudinal and experimental evidence

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  • Olmstead, Todd A.
  • Alessi, Sheila M.
  • Kline, Brendan
  • Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo
  • Petry, Nancy M.

Abstract

This paper reports estimates of the price elasticity of demand for heroin based on a newly constructed dataset. The dataset has two matched components concerning the same sample of regular heroin users: longitudinal information about real-world heroin demand (actual price and actual quantity at daily intervals for each heroin user in the sample) and experimental information about laboratory heroin demand (elicited by presenting the same heroin users with scenarios in a laboratory setting). Two empirical strategies are used to estimate the price elasticity of demand for heroin. The first strategy exploits the idiosyncratic variation in the price experienced by a heroin user over time that occurs in markets for illegal drugs. The second strategy exploits the experimentally induced variation in price experienced by a heroin user across experimental scenarios. Both empirical strategies result in the estimate that the conditional price elasticity of demand for heroin is approximately -0.80.

Suggested Citation

  • Olmstead, Todd A. & Alessi, Sheila M. & Kline, Brendan & Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo & Petry, Nancy M., 2015. "The price elasticity of demand for heroin: Matched longitudinal and experimental evidence," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 59-71.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:41:y:2015:i:c:p:59-71
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.01.008
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    Cited by:

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    2. Keaton Miller & Boyoung Seo, 2021. "The Effect of Cannabis Legalization on Substance Demand and Tax Revenues," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(1), pages 107-145.
    3. Cecilia S. Diaz-Campo, M. Antonella Mancino, 2023. "What We RANDomly Did Not Learn: Opioid Elasticities and Underlying Mechanisms," LCERPA Working Papers bm0139, Laurier Centre for Economic Research and Policy Analysis.
    4. Johanna Catherine Maclean & Brady P. Horn & Jonathan H. Cantor, 2020. "Business Cycles And Admissions To Substance Abuse Treatment," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(1), pages 139-154, January.
    5. GRANGER Maury & PRICE Gregory, 2016. "Breaking Bad In Mississippi: Do County-Level Alcohol Sale Bans Encourage Crystal Methamphetamine Production And Consumption?," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 11(3), pages 55-66, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Elasticity; Heroin; Demand; Panel data; Experimental methods;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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