Competitiveness in the Pharmaceutical Industry: A Historical Overview

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present the key periods of competitiveness dynamics in pharmaceutical industry. The historical overview covers the emergence of modern pharmaceutical industry. Given the role of pharmaceutical industry in healthcare, particular attention is paid to the impact of state supervision on dynamics. The results of the paper determinate ten periods in the dynamics of competitiveness. Both internal factors of competitiveness and external factors are presented. Competitiveness of pharmaceutical industry marks a dynamics that is similar to that of other sciences and at each period, a new factor is added from the external environment.

Keywords: state supervision, competitive advantage, path dependence

JEL Classification: D24, L65, N80