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Economic Markets and Pharmaceutical Innovation

Author

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  • Craig Garthwaite

Abstract

Pharmaceutical innovations reach the market after a long and risky process that requires large, fixed, and sunk investments. Governments provide incentives for firms to make these investments through various forms of intellectual property protection that attempt to provide a return on capital for investors. As a result, pharmaceutical innovation results from an explicit intersection of public policy and private market incentives. Developing optimal policy therefore requires understanding market features such as how innovation is financed, how firms commercialize pharmaceutical products, the influence of insurance coverage on consumption and spending, and how competition emerges after intellectual property protection ends.

Suggested Citation

  • Craig Garthwaite, 2025. "Economic Markets and Pharmaceutical Innovation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 3-26, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:39:y:2025:i:2:p:3-26
    DOI: 10.1257/jep.20251438
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L65 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Chemicals; Rubber; Drugs; Biotechnology; Plastics
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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