IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/adbiwp/0643.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Trade in Health Products: Reducing Trade Barriers for Better Health

Author

Listed:
  • Helble, Matthias

    (Asian Development Bank Institute)

  • Shepherd, Benjamin

    (Asian Development Bank Institute)

Abstract

Trade in health products has been flourishing in recent years as the demand for better health has been growing throughout the world. At the same time, trade in health products is hampered by substantive trade barriers. In this paper, we present evidence that countries around the world still apply tariffs and nontariff measures that increase prices and limit the availability of health-related products such as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical equipment. The case for liberalizing trade in these products is therefore strong. In addition, we show that improving trade facilitation performance, using the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement as a starting point, can be linked to improved handling of health-related products such as vaccines which, in turn, would boost usage. In the last part of the paper, we study the price differences for insulin across countries. We observe that the price of insulin has various determinants, one of them being open trade: the higher the level of competition between manufacturers, the lower the price of insulin. In summary, lowering trade barriers on health products can make a substantive contribution to building up health systems and lowering out-of-pocket payments of patients.

Suggested Citation

  • Helble, Matthias & Shepherd, Benjamin, 2017. "Trade in Health Products: Reducing Trade Barriers for Better Health," ADBI Working Papers 643, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0643
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/224171/adbi-wp643.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Helble, Matthias, 2012. "More trade for better health? International trade and tariffs on health products," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2012-17, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    2. Pierre Sauvé & Gloria Pasadilla & Mia Mikic (ed.), 2011. "Service Sector Reforms: Asia-Pacific Perspectives," ARTNeT Books and Research Reports, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), number brr8.
    3. Shepherd, Ben & Pasadilla, Gloria, 2011. "Trade in Services and Human Development: A First Look at the Links," ADBI Working Papers 268, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    4. Rajesh Mehta, 2005. "Non-tariff Barriers Affecting India’s Exports," Trade Working Papers 22116, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    5. Helble, Matthias & Aizawa, Toshiaki, 2015. "International Trade and Determinants of Price Differentials of Insulin Medicine," ADBI Working Papers 551, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    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. Anand Sharma & Vipin Sharma & Shekhar Tokas, 2022. "Institutional quality and health outcomes: evidence from the EU countries," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 70-78.
    2. Pierre Cotterlaz & Guillaume Gaulier & Aude Sztulman & Deniz Ünal, 2024. "Pioneering a new classification: a comprehensive study of healthcare products in global trade," Working Papers DT/2024/01, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    3. Padmashree Gehl Sampath, 2022. "Strade Measures On Pharmaceutical Products: Can They Promote Local Production And Public Health?," Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 29(2), pages 47-69, November.
    4. Ayona Bhattacharjee & Rupa Chanda, 2023. "Trade in health products and population health: A long‐run relation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 182-207, January.

    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. Pierre Cotterlaz & Guillaume Gaulier & Aude Sztulman & Deniz Ünal, 2024. "Pioneering a new classification: a comprehensive study of healthcare products in global trade," Working Papers 2024-02, CEPII research center.
    2. Pavel Chakraborty & Rahul Singh, 2021. "Technical Barriers to Trade and the Performance of Indian Exporters," Working Papers DP-2021-26, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    3. Mia Mikic, 2011. "Role of trade in development and overview of Asia-Pacific LDCs’ performance in trade and investment," STUDIES IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT, in: United Nations ESCAP (ed.), Trade beyond Doha: Prospects for Asia-Pacific Least Developed Countries, Studies in Trade and Investment 76, chapter 1, pages 5-24, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
    4. Sacchidananda Mukherjee & Debashis Chakraborty, 2007. "Environment, Human Development and Economic Growth after Liberalisation: An Analysis of Indian States," Working Papers 2007-016, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    5. -, 2020. "Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2020," La Inversión Extranjera Directa en América Latina y el Caribe, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 46541 edited by Eclac, May.
    6. Shepherd, Ben & Pasadilla, Gloria, 2012. "Services as a New Engine of Growth for ASEAN, the People’s Republic of China, and India," ADBI Working Papers 349, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    7. Ayona Bhattacharjee & Rupa Chanda, 2023. "Trade in health products and population health: A long‐run relation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 182-207, January.
    8. Emilie Sophie Le Caous & Fenghueih Huarng, 2021. "Economic Complexity and Human Development: Moderated by Logistics and International Migration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, February.
    9. Nag, Biswajit & Chakraborty, Debashis, 2007. "India’s Involvement in Regional Trade Agreements: Is it a Second Best Strategy?," MPRA Paper 4596, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Dorothée Rouzet & Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås & Frédéric Gonzales & Massimo Geloso Grosso & Iza Lejárraga & Sébastien Miroudot & Asako Ueno, 2014. "Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI): Financial Services," OECD Trade Policy Papers 175, OECD Publishing.
    11. Jan Grumiller & Hannes Grohs & Christian Reiner, 2021. "“Increasing the resilience and security of supply ofproduction post-COVID-19” - The Case of Medical and Pharmaceutical Products," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 216, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    12. Gordhan K. Saini, 2009. "Non-tariff measures and Indian textiles and clothing exports," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2009-002, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    13. Sangeeta Khorana & Nicholas Perdikis & May T. Yeung & William A. Kerr, 2010. "Bilateral Trade Agreements in the Era of Globalization," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13719.
    14. Okumu, Luke & Nyankori, James Cyprian Okuk, 2010. "Non-tariff barriers in EAC customs union: implications for trade between Uganda and other EAC countries," Research Series 113621, Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC).
    15. Sachin Chaturvedi, 2006. "Trade Facilitation and Customs Valuations in India : Identifying the Gaps," Trade Working Papers 22087, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    16. Fuchs, Andreas & Kaplan, Lennart & Kis-Katos, Krisztina & Schmidt, Sebastian S. & Turbanisch, Felix & Wang, Feicheng, 2022. "Tracking Chinese aid through China customs: Darlings and orphans after the COVID-19 outbreak," Kiel Working Papers 2232, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    17. Daly, Saida & Garroud, Chadia, 2020. "The effects of Entrepreneurship and Sectoral Outputs on three Dimensions of Sustainable Development: A Literature Review and an Empirical Assessment for Developed Countries," MPRA Paper 104945, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 16 Oct 2020.
    18. Renjini, V.R. & Venkatesh, Palanisamy & Nithyashree, ML & Singh, Alka, 2021. "Processed Food Export from India to European Union: Trend and Potential," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315306, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    19. Rakhi Singh & Seema Sharma & Deepak Tandon, 2018. "Non-Tariff Measures in Indian Context and the European Union," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(9), pages 1-54, September.
    20. Patricia M. Danzon, 2018. "Differential Pricing of Pharmaceuticals: Theory, Evidence and Emerging Issues," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 36(12), pages 1395-1405, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    trade; trade barriers; health products; pharmaceuticals; tariffs; non-tariff measures; trade liberalization; WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement; vaccine; insulin;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ris:adbiwp:0643. 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: ADB Institute (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/adbinjp.html .

    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.