Generic drug utilization has risen dramatically, from 19% of scrips in 1984 to 47% in 2001, thus bringing significant direct dollar savings. Generic drug use may also yield indirect savings if it lowe
Ganapati, S., and McKibbin, R. (2023). “Markups and Fixed Costs in Generic and Off-Patent Pharmaceutical Markets.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 105:6, 1606–1614.
Prior research has shown that exogenous shocks to the demand for medical products spur additional product development. These studies do not distinguish between breakthrough products and those that lar