Pharmaceutical Prices and Political Activity

46 Pages Posted: 17 Sep 2001 Last revised: 5 Sep 2022

See all articles by Sara Fisher Ellison

Sara Fisher Ellison

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics

Catherine Wolfram

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Date Written: September 2001

Abstract

Drug prices have been a conspicuous political issue in much of recent history, but no more so than during health care reform debates in 1993 and 1994. This paper investigates possible effects of political activity on pharmaceutical prices, with a particular focus on the health care reform period. It evaluates the extent to which pharmaceutical companies slowed the rates at which they increased prices in an attempt to preempt government intervention. To do so, we characterize companies based on their vulnerability to future price regulation. We then consider patterns in price movements across companies. The results suggest that companies whose drugs had longer patent lives and who had recently increased contributions to their corporate Political Action Committees (PACs) slowed price increases during 1992 and 1994 more than their competitors. It is difficult to distinguish pricing differences across companies in 1993, perhaps because most companies had pledged to keep price increases below the rate of inflation.

Suggested Citation

Fisher Ellison, Sara and Wolfram, Catherine, Pharmaceutical Prices and Political Activity (September 2001). NBER Working Paper No. w8482, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=283353

Sara Fisher Ellison (Contact Author)

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Catherine Wolfram

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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