Data and Code for "The Economics of the Public Option: Evidence from Local Pharmaceutical Markets"

We study the effects of competition by state-owned firms, leveraging the decentralized entry of public pharmacies to local markets in Chile. Public pharmacies sell the same drugs at a third of private pharmacy prices, because of stronger upstream bargaining and market power in the private sector, but are of lower quality. Public pharmacies induced market segmentation and price increases in the private sector, which benefited the switchers to the public option but harmed the stayers. The countrywide entry of public pharmacies would reduce yearly consumer drug expenditure by 1.6 percent.

我们以智利公共药房向当地市场的分散化进入为切入点，研究国有企业竞争带来的影响。公共药房因具备更强的上游议价能力（upstream bargaining）（而私营部门拥有市场势力（market power）），使得其销售的同款药品价格仅为私营药房的三分之一，但药品质量相对较低。公共药房的进入引发了市场分割（market segmentation）及私营部门药品价格上涨，这使得转用公共药房的消费者（switchers）获益，但对继续选择私营药房的留存者（stayers）造成了损害。若公共药房在全国范围内普及，消费者年度药品支出将降低1.6%。