Economics at the FTC: Drug and PBM Mergers and Drip Pricing

B-Tier
Journal: Review of Industrial Organization
Year: 2012
Volume: 41
Issue: 4
Pages: 303-319

Authors (6)

Howard Shelanski (not in RePEc) Joseph Farrell (University of California-Berke...) Daniel Hanner (not in RePEc) Christopher Metcalf (Government of the United State...) Mary Sullivan (not in RePEc) Brett Wendling (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.335 = (α=2.01 / 6 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Economists at the Federal Trade Commission pursue the agency’s competition and consumer protection missions. In this year’s essay, in antitrust, we discuss two recent mergers that involved Rx drugs: First, we describe key elements of the inquiry into the Express Scripts/Medco transaction in the pharmacy benefit management industry. Next, we analyze a merger that involved drugs that are used to treat patent ductus arteriosus: a condition that affects premature babies. On the consumer protection side, we discuss a pricing strategy—drip pricing—that involves the release of price information about a multi-part product over time as the consumer goes through the purchase process. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York (outside the USA) 2012

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:kap:revind:v:41:y:2012:i:4:p:303-319
Journal Field
Industrial Organization
Author Count
6
Added to Database
2026-01-25