ON THE DEMAND FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: HETEROGENEITY IN PRICE RESPONSES
利用丹麦全民补贴改革导致的共付额外生变化，估计处方药需求价格弹性为-0.36至-0.5，发现女性、老年人和移民反应更大，且不同抗生素间弹性差异显著。
This paper estimates the price elasticity of demand for prescription drugs using an exogenous shift in consumer co-payment caused by a reform in the Danish subsidy scheme for the general public. Using purchasing records for the entire Danish population, I show that the average price response for the most commonly used drug yields demand elasticities in the range of -0.36 to -0.5. The reform is shown to affect women, the elderly, and immigrants the most. Furthermore, this paper shows significant heterogeneity in the price response over different types of antibiotics, suggesting that the price elasticity of demand varies considerably even across relatively similar drugs.