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On the Effect of Parallel Trade on Manufacturers’ and Retailers’ Profits in the Pharmaceutical Sector

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  • Dubois, Pierre
  • Saethre, Morten

Abstract

Differences in regulated pharmaceutical prices within the European Economic Area create arbitrage opportunities that pharmacy retailers can access through parallel imports. For prescription drugs under patent, parallel trade affects the sharing of profits among an innovating pharmaceutical company, retailers, and parallel traders. We develop a structural model of demand and supply in which retailers can choose the set of goods to sell, thus foreclosing consumers’ access to less profitable drugs. This allows retailers to bargain and obtain lower wholesale prices from the manufacturer and parallel trader. With detailed transaction data from Norway, we identify a demand model with unobserved choice sets using retailside conditions for optimal assortment decisions of pharmacies. We find that retailer incentives play a significant role in fostering parallel trade penetration and that banning parallel imports would benefit manufacturers as well as prevent pharmacies from foreclosing the manufacturer’s product. Finally, in the case of the statin market in Norway, we show that it would be possible to decrease spending and increase profits of the original manufacturer through lump sum transfers associated with a lower reimbursement price, thus decreasing price differentiation across countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Dubois, Pierre & Saethre, Morten, 2018. "On the Effect of Parallel Trade on Manufacturers’ and Retailers’ Profits in the Pharmaceutical Sector," TSE Working Papers 18-883, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Mar 2020.
  • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:32393
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    Cited by:

    1. Friberg, Richard & Steen, Frode & Ulsaker, Simen Aardal, 2024. "Cross-border shopping of alcohol – What is the effect on tax revenue and sales and which products are most affected?," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 12/2024, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    2. Donna, Javier D. & Pereira, Pedro & Trindade, Andre & Yoshida, Renan C., 2020. "Direct-to-Consumer Sales by Manufacturers and Bargaining," MPRA Paper 105773, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Sharat Ganapati & Rebecca McKibbin, 2019. "Non-Tariff Barriers and Bargaining in Generic Pharmaceuticals," Working Papers gueconwpa~18-18-23, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    4. Pierre Dubois & Morten Sæthre, 2020. "On the Effect of Parallel Trade on Manufacturers' and Retailers' Profits in the Pharmaceutical Sector," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(6), pages 2503-2545, November.
    5. David Bardey & Denis Gromb & David Martimort & Jérôme Pouyet, 2016. "Drugs, Showrooms and Financial Products: Competition and Regulation when Sellers Provide Expert Advice," PSE Working Papers halshs-01400841, HAL.
    6. Martimort, David & Pouyet, Jerome, 2022. "Why Is Exclusivity in Broadcasting Rights Prevalent and Why Does Simple Regulation Fail?," CEPR Discussion Papers 17446, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Aljoscha Janssen, 2022. "Price dynamics of Swedish pharmaceuticals," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 313-351, December.
    8. Atal, Juan Pablo & Cuesta, José Ignacio & Sæthre, Morten, 2018. "Quality Regulation and Competition: Evidence from Pharmaceutical Markets," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 20/2018, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    9. Dubois, Pierre & Gandhi, Ashvin & Vasserman, Shoshana, 2022. "Bargaining and International Reference Pricing in the Pharmaceutical Industry," Research Papers 3889, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    10. Gianluca Antonecchia & Ajay Bhaskarabhatla & Enrico Pennings, 2024. "Bargaining Power and Quantity Discounts to Retailers: Evidence from India’s Pharmaceutical Industry," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-048/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
    11. David Bardey & Denis Gromb & David Martimort & Jérôme Pouyet, 2020. "Controlling Sellers Who Provide Advice: Regulation and Competition," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 409-444, September.
    12. Leautier, Thomas-Olivier, 2018. "On the long-term impact price caps: Investment, uncertainty, imperfect competition, and rationing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 53-95.
    13. Laura Birg, 2023. "Pharmaceutical regulation under market integration through parallel trade," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(4), pages 1322-1346, November.
    14. Dubois, P.; & Majewska, G.; & Reig, V.;, 2023. "Drug Shortages: Empirical Evidence from France," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 23/07, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    15. Dubois, Pierre & Majewska, Gosia & Reig, Valentina, 2023. "Drug Shortages: Empirical Evidence from France," TSE Working Papers 23-1417, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    16. Kyle, Margaret K., 2022. "Incentives for pharmaceutical innovation: What’s working, what’s lacking," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Parallel trade; pharmaceuticals; vertical contracts; demand estimation; foreclosure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure

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