THE DETERMINANTS OF PRICING IN PHARMACEUTICALS: ARE US PRICES REALLY SO HIGH?
利用25个国家6年的药品数据，发现美国药价并不显著高于收入相近国家，但品牌药和畅销药的价格差异更大，可能扭曲公众对国际价格差异的看法。
This paper studies price determination in pharmaceutical markets using data for 25 countries, 6 years, and a comprehensive list of products from the MIDAS IMS database. A key finding is that the USA has prices that are not significantly higher than those of countries with similar income levels, especially those that are 'lightly regulated'. More importantly, price differences to the US levels increase for 'branded', world top selling, or innovative products, and decrease, regardless of the level of regulation for mature or widely diffused molecules. Because prices for top selling molecules may be easier to perceive and recollect and more important for companies, they may bias the public discussion about international price differences.