IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v15y2006i1p5-18.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pharmaceutical promotion and GP prescription behaviour

Author

Listed:
  • Frank Windmeijer
  • Eric de Laat
  • Rudy Douven
  • Esther Mot

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to empirically analyse the responses by general practitioners to promotional activities for ethical drugs by pharmaceutical companies. Promotion can be beneficial as a means of providing information, but it can also be harmful in the sense that it lowers price sensitivity of doctors and it merely is a means of maintaining market share, even when cheaper, therapeutically equivalent drugs are available. A model is estimated that includes interactions of promotion expenditures and prices and that explicitly exploits the panel structure of the data, allowing for drug specific effects and dynamic adjustments, or habit persistence. The data used are aggregate monthly GP prescriptions per drug together with monthly outlays on drug promotion for the period 1994–1999 for 11 therapeutic markets, covering more than half of the total prescription drug market in the Netherlands. Identification of price effects is aided by the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Prices Act, which established that Dutch drugs prices became a weighted average of the prices in surrounding countries after June 1996. We conclude that GP drug price sensitivity is small, but adversely affected by promotion. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Windmeijer & Eric de Laat & Rudy Douven & Esther Mot, 2006. "Pharmaceutical promotion and GP prescription behaviour," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(1), pages 5-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:15:y:2006:i:1:p:5-18
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.1007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.1007
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hec.1007?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ernst R. Berndt, 2002. "Pharmaceuticals in U.S. Health Care: Determinants of Quantity and Price," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 45-66, Fall.
    2. DiMasi, Joseph A. & Hansen, Ronald W. & Grabowski, Henry G. & Lasagna, Louis, 1991. "Cost of innovation in the pharmaceutical industry," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 107-142, July.
    3. Scherer, F.M., 2000. "The pharmaceutical industry," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 25, pages 1297-1336, Elsevier.
    4. repec:bla:jindec:v:47:y:1999:i:2:p:169-94 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Rizzo, John A, 1999. "Advertising and Competition in the Ethical Pharmaceutical Industry: The Case of Antihypertensive Drugs," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 89-116, April.
    6. Catherine Matraves, 1998. "Market Structure, R&D and Advertising in the Pharmaceutical Industry," CIG Working Papers FS IV 98-17, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    7. Hurwitz, Mark A & Caves, Richard E, 1988. "Persuasion or Information? Promotion and the Shares of Brand Name and Generic Pharmaceuticals," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(2), pages 299-320, October.
    8. repec:bla:jindec:v:48:y:2000:i:3:p:349-69 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Catherine Matraves, 1999. "Market Structure, R&D and Advertising in the Pharmaceutical Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 169-194, June.
    10. Stephane Jacobzone, 2000. "Pharmaceutical Policies in OECD Countries: Reconciling Social and Industrial Goals," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 40, OECD Publishing.
    11. DiMasi, Joseph A. & Hansen, Ronald W. & Grabowski, Henry G., 2003. "The price of innovation: new estimates of drug development costs," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 151-185, March.
    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. Machiel Dijk & Richard Nahuis & Daniel Waagmeester, 2006. "Does Public Service Broadcasting Serve The Public? The Future of Television in the Changing Media Landscape," De Economist, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 251-276, June.
    2. Sabine Vogler, 2019. "Fair prices for medicines? Exploring competent authorities’ and public payers’ preferences on pharmaceutical policies," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(3), pages 443-469, August.
    3. Filippini, M. & Heimsch, F. & Masiero, G., 2014. "Antibiotic consumption and the role of dispensing physicians," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 242-251.
    4. Begoña Garcia Mariñoso & Izabela Jelovac & Pau Olivella, 2011. "External referencing and pharmaceutical price negotiation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(6), pages 737-756, June.
    5. Neilson, William S., 2009. "Price sensitive prescribers," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 20-22, July.
    6. Hui Zhang & Gregory Zaric, 2015. "Using price–volume agreements to manage pharmaceutical leakage and off-label promotion," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 16(7), pages 747-761, September.
    7. David B. Ridley, 2015. "Payments, Promotion, And The Purple Pill," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 86-103, January.
    8. Terris-Prestholt, Fern & Windmeijer, Frank, 2016. "How to sell a condom? The impact of demand creation tools on male and female condom sales in resource limited settings," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 107-120.
    9. Denzil G. Fiebig & Rosalie Viney & Stephanie Knox & Marion Haas & Deborah J. Street & Arne R. Hole & Edith Weisberg & Deborah Bateson, 2017. "Consideration Sets and Their Role in Modelling Doctor Recommendations About Contraceptives," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 54-73, January.
    10. Sabine Vogler & Valérie Paris & Alessandra Ferrario & Veronika J. Wirtz & Kees Joncheere & Peter Schneider & Hanne Bak Pedersen & Guillaume Dedet & Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar, 2017. "How Can Pricing and Reimbursement Policies Improve Affordable Access to Medicines? Lessons Learned from European Countries," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 307-321, June.
    11. Gorecki, Paul K. & Nolan, Anne & Brick, Aoife & Lyons, Seán, 2012. "Pharmaceuticals Delivery in Ireland. Getting a Bigger Bang for the Buck," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS24.
    12. Pieter Dylst & Arnold Vulto & Brian Godman & Steven Simoens, 2013. "Generic Medicines: Solutions for a Sustainable Drug Market?," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 11(5), pages 437-443, October.
    13. Gregory G. Lubiani & Albert A. Okunade & Weiwei Chen, 2018. "Income Elasticity Decomposition Models and Determinants of U.S. Pharmaceutical Expenditures," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 46(4), pages 389-403, December.
    14. Kremer, Sara T.M. & Bijmolt, Tammo H.A. & Leeflang, Peter S.H. & Wieringa, Jaap E., 2008. "Generalizations on the effectiveness of pharmaceutical promotional expenditures," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 234-246.
    15. Peter Leeflang & Jaap Wieringa, 2010. "Modeling the effects of pharmaceutical marketing," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 121-133, June.
    16. Muhammad Alshurideh & Barween Al Kurdi & Ala Abdullah Abumari & Said A. Salloum, 2018. "Pharmaceutical Promotion Tools Effect on Physician's Adoption of Medicine Prescribing: Evidence from Jordan," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(11), pages 210-210, November.

    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. Königbauer, Ingrid, 2006. "Dealing with Rising Health Care Costs: The Case of Pharmaceuticals," Munich Dissertations in Economics 5640, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    2. Kurt R. Brekke & Odd Rune Straume, 2008. "Pharmaceutical Patents: Incentives for R&D or Marketing?," CESifo Working Paper Series 2433, CESifo.
    3. 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.
    4. Linnosmaa Ismo Erkki, 2008. "Advertising, Free-Riding, and Price Differences in the Market for Prescription Drugs," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(2), pages 1-37, July.
    5. Gianluca Baio & Laura Magazzini & Antonio Nicita & Fabio Pammolli & Massimo Riccaboni, 2003. "Il Decreto DL 15/04/2002, n. 63 sul Contenimento della Spesa Farmaceutica - Impatto sull'Industria e Distorsioni nel Funzionamento del Mercato," Working Papers CERM 0-2003, Competitività, Regole, Mercati (CERM).
    6. Castanheira, Micael & Ornaghi, Carmine & Siotis, Georges, 2019. "The unexpected consequences of generic entry," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    7. Yin, Nina, 2023. "Pharmaceuticals, incremental innovation and market exclusivity," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Christian Garavaglia & Franco Malerba & Luigi Orsenigo & Michele Pezzoni, 2013. "Technological Regimes and Demand Structure in the Evolution of the Pharmaceutical Industry," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Esben Sloth Andersen (ed.), Long Term Economic Development, edition 127, pages 61-94, Springer.
    9. Brekke, Kurt R. & Kuhn, Michael, 2006. "Direct to consumer advertising in pharmaceutical markets," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 102-130, January.
    10. Bardey, D. & Bommier, A. & Jullien, B., 2010. "Retail price regulation and innovation: Reference pricing in the pharmaceutical industry," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 303-316, March.
    11. Newhouse, Joseph Paul & Berndt, Ernst R., 2010. "Pricing and Reimbursement in U.S. Pharmaceutical Markets," Scholarly Articles 4450127, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    12. Papachristos, George & Adamides, Emmanuel, 2016. "A retroductive systems-based methodology for socio-technical transitions research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 1-14.
    13. Konigbauer, Ingrid, 2007. "Advertising and generic market entry," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 286-305, March.
    14. John Cawley & John A. Rizzo, 2005. "The Competitive Effects of Drug Withdrawals," NBER Working Papers 11223, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Ute Laermann-Nguyen & Martin Backfisch, 2021. "Innovation crisis in the pharmaceutical industry? A survey," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(12), pages 1-37, December.
    16. Dhaval M. Dave, 2013. "Effects of Pharmaceutical Promotion: A Review and Assessment," NBER Working Papers 18830, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Branstetter, Lee & Chatterjee, Chirantan & Higgins, Matthew J., 2022. "Generic competition and the incentives for early-stage pharmaceutical innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    18. Scherer, F. M., 2007. "Pharmaceutical Innovation," Working Paper Series rwp07-004, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    19. Antonio Cabrales, 2003. "Pharmaceutical generics, vertical product differentiation and public policy," Economics Working Papers 662, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    20. Catherine Matraves & Laura Rondi, 2007. "Product Differentiation, Industry Concentration and Market Share Turbulence," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 37-57.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis

    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:wly:hlthec:v:15:y:2006:i:1:p:5-18. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749 .

    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.