Pharmaceuticals in U.S. Health Care: Determinants of Quantity and Price
分析了美国制药行业的经济学原理，区分短期、中期和长期成本，探讨消费者异质性估值对非统一定价和定向营销的激励，以及静态效率与动态效率之间的冲突。
The U.S. pharmaceutical industry has again become the focus of considerable controversy. In understanding the economics underlying this industry, distinctions between short, medium and long-run costs are critical, as is that between economic and accounting costs. Consumers' heterogeneous valuations create strong incentives for non-uniform pricing and targeted marketing. The conflict between static efficiency (price new drugs low, near short-run marginal cost) and dynamic efficiency (price new drugs high, maintain incentives for innovation) is deep and enduring. This trade-off is becoming more severe as the relative costs of bringing new drugs to market have increased sharply.