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Globalization and the Price Decline of Illicit Drugs
Claudia Costa Storti Banco de Portugal Paul De Grauwe Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) May 2007 CESifo Working Paper Series No. 1990 Abstract: Retail prices of major drugs like cocaine and heroin have declined dramatically during the last two decades. This price decline has tended to offset the effects of drug policies aimed at reducing drug use in major industrial countries. The main finding of this paper is that the decline in the retail prices of drugs is related to the strong decline in the intermediation margin (the difference between the retail and producer prices) in the drug business. We develop the hypothesis, and give some evidence, that globalization has been an important factor behind the decline of the intermediation margin. We conclude with some thoughts about the effects of globalization on the effectiveness of drug policies and argue that globalization may have increased the relative effectiveness of policies aiming at reducing the demand of drugs.
JEL Classifications: F10, K42 Working Paper SeriesDate posted: May 22, 2007 ; Last revised: May 22, 2007Suggested CitationContact Information
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