title: Has the European union achieved a single pharmaceutical market?
abstract: This paper explores price differences in the European Union (EU) pharmaceutical market, the EU's fifth largest industry. With the aim of enhancing quality of life along with industry competitiveness and R&D capability, many EU directives have been adopted to achieve a single EU-wide pharmaceutical market. Using annual 1994-2003 data on prices of molecules that treat cardiovascular disease, we examine whether drug price dispersion has indeed decreased across five EU countries. Hedonic regressions show that over time, cross-country price differences between Germany and three of the four other EU sample countries, France, Italy and Spain, have declined, with relative prices in all three as well as the fourth country, UK, rising during the period. We interpret this as evidence that the EU has come closer to achieving a single pharmaceutical market in response to increasing European Commission coordination efforts.
authors: Hodges University, Naples, FL, USA.
authors: Aysegul
authors: A
authors: Timur
authors: Gabriel
authors: G
authors: Picone
authors: Jeffrey
authors: J
authors: DeSimone
mesh_terms: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D057915:Drug Substitution / Q000191:economics; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000191:economics; D004465:Economic Competition; D005062:European Union / Q000191:economics*; D005602:France; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D018803:Models, Economic; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000191:economics*; D011306:Prescription Fees / Q000639:trends; D013030:Spain; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents; D016568:Drugs, Generic; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations