IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/aphecp/v7y2009i2p71-89.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Implementing differential pricing for essential medicines via country-specific bilateral negotiated discounts

Author

Listed:
  • Ebenezer Tetteh

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that limited access to essential medicines undermines efforts at improving the health and economic well-being of low-income populations. This has spurred on a number of solutions, including differential pricing based on the economics of price discrimination. A desirable feature of differential pricing is its potential ability to reconcile static and dynamic efficiency concerns. There are, however, various shades of differential pricing and this paper aims to evaluate their consistency with economic theory. Starting with the report of the workshop on ‘Differential Pricing and Financing of Essential Drugs’ held by secretariats of the World Trade Organization and WHO in Hosbjor, Norway, in 2001, this paper takes issue with how differential pricing has been defined as a tool for improving access to essential drug benefits. The paper notes that inadequate attention has been given to policies and institutional arrangements for creating, expressing and maintaining ‘truly’ price-elastic demands in low-income nations and for segmenting markets. In addition, considerations of equity and solidarity have distracted policy advocates from balancing conflicting, yet well intended, views and general rules. The paper argues why differential pricing should be implemented via country-specific bilateral negotiated discounts. It maintains that it is feasible to muster an environment conducive to profitable differential pricing whilst satisfying general rules and concerns about self-reliance, transparency, accountability, equity and solidarity. Copyright Adis Data Information BV 2009

Suggested Citation

  • Ebenezer Tetteh, 2009. "Implementing differential pricing for essential medicines via country-specific bilateral negotiated discounts," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 71-89, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:aphecp:v:7:y:2009:i:2:p:71-89
    DOI: 10.1007/BF03256143
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/BF03256143
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/BF03256143?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Galera, Francisco & Zaratiegui, Jesus M., 2006. "Welfare and output in third-degree price discrimination: A note," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 605-611, May.
    2. Tetteh, Ebenezer kwabena, 2008. "Providing affordable essential medicines to African households: The missing policies and institutions for price containment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 569-581, February.
    3. Ernst R. Berndt, 2007. "A primer on the economics of re-importation of prescription drugs," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4-5), pages 415-435.
    4. William Jack & Jean O. Lanjouw, 2005. "Financing Pharmaceutical Innovation: How Much Should Poor Countries Contribute?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 19(1), pages 45-67.
    5. Danzon, Patricia M. & Chao, Li-Wei, 2000. "Cross-national price differences for pharmaceuticals: how large, and why?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 159-195, March.
    6. Patricia M. Danzon & Andrew J. Epstein, 2012. "Effects of Regulation on Drug Launch and Pricing in Interdependent Markets," Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research, in: The Economics of Medical Technology, pages 35-71, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    7. Holmes, Thomas J, 1989. "The Effects of Third-Degree Price Discrimination in Oligopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 244-250, March.
    8. Varian, Hal R, 1985. "Price Discrimination and Social Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 870-875, September.
    9. Kenneth Elzinga & David Mills, 1997. "The Distribution and Pricing of Prescription Drugs," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 287-300.
    10. Felix Höffler, 2006. "Monopoly Prices versus Ramsey-Boiteux Prices: Are they “Similar”, and: Does it Matter?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 27-43, March.
    11. Stole, Lars A., 2007. "Price Discrimination and Competition," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 34, pages 2221-2299, Elsevier.
    12. Patricia Danzon, 1997. "Price Discrimination for Pharmaceuticals: Welfare Effects in the US and the EU," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 301-322.
    13. Sara Fisher Ellison, 1998. "What Prices Can Tell Us about the Market for Antibiotics," Working papers 98-10, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
    14. F. M. Scherer, 1997. "How US Antitrust Can Go Astray: The Brand Name Prescription Drug Litigation," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 239-256.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Samira Guennif, 2017. "Is Compulsory Licensing Bad for Public Health? Some Critical Comments on Drug Accessibility in Developing Countries," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 557-565, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patricia M. Danzon & Eric L. Keuffel, 2014. "Regulation of the Pharmaceutical-Biotechnology Industry," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Regulation and Its Reform: What Have We Learned?, pages 407-484, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Takanori Adachi & Noriaki Matsushima, 2014. "The Welfare Effects Of Third-Degree Price Discrimination In A Differentiated Oligopoly," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(3), pages 1231-1244, July.
    3. Aguirre, Iñaki, 2019. "Oligopoly price discrimination, competitive pressure and total output," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 13, pages 1-16.
    4. Ernst R. Berndt & Joseph P. Newhouse, 2010. "Pricing and Reimbursement in U.S. Pharmaceutical Markets," NBER Working Papers 16297, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Patricia M. Danzon & Andrew W. Mulcahy & Adrian K. Towse, 2015. "Pharmaceutical Pricing in Emerging Markets: Effects of Income, Competition, and Procurement," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2), pages 238-252, February.
    6. Adachi, Takanori, 2023. "A sufficient statistics approach for welfare analysis of oligopolistic third‐degree price discrimination," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Sofia Berto Villas‐Boas, 2009. "An empirical investigation of the welfare effects of banning wholesale price discrimination," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 40(1), pages 20-46, March.
    8. Stole, Lars A., 2007. "Price Discrimination and Competition," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 34, pages 2221-2299, Elsevier.
    9. Shi, Wunan & Wouters, Olivier J. & Liu, Gordon & Mossialos, Elias & Yang, Xiuyun, 2020. "Association between provincial income levels and drug prices in China over the period 2010–2017," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    10. Danzon, Patricia M & Chao, Li-Wei, 2000. "Does Regulation Drive out Competition in Pharmaceutical Markets?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 311-357, October.
    11. Markus Dertwinkel‐Kalt & Christian Wey, 2023. "Third‐Degree Price Discrimination in Oligopoly when Markets are Covered," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(2), pages 464-490, June.
    12. Simshauser, Paul, 2018. "Price discrimination and the modes of failure in deregulated retail electricity markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 54-70.
    13. Simshauser, Paul & Whish-Wilson, Patrick, 2017. "Price discrimination in Australia's retail electricity markets: An analysis of Victoria & Southeast Queensland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 92-103.
    14. Aguirre, Iñaki & Yenipazarli, Arda, 2022. "A Rationale for the “Meeting Competition Defense” when Competitive Pressure Varies Across Markets," MPRA Paper 113746, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Guo, Wen-Chung & Lai, Fu-Chuan, 2022. "Price discrimination under online–offline competition," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    16. Aguirre Iñaki, 2016. "On the Economics of the “Meeting Competition Defense” Under the Robinson–Patman Act," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 1213-1238, September.
    17. Braouezec, Yann, 2012. "Customer-class pricing, parallel trade and the optimal number of market segments," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 605-614.
    18. Villas-Boas, Sofia B, 2008. "An Empirical Investigation of the Welfare Effects of Banning Wholesale Price Discrimination," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt7vg17026, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    19. Aguirre Pérez, Iñaki, 2011. "Multimarket Competition and Welfare Effects of Price discrimination," IKERLANAK info:eu-repo/grantAgreeme, Universidad del País Vasco - Departamento de Fundamentos del Análisis Económico I.
    20. Simon Cowan, 2007. "The welfare effects of third-degree price discrimination with nonlinear demand functions," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 38(2), pages 419-428, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:aphecp:v:7:y:2009:i:2:p:71-89. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.