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- Title
RETURNS TO SCALE IN RESEARCH IN THE ETHICAL PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY: SOME FURTHER EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE.
- Authors
Angilley, Alan S.
- Abstract
The pharmaceutical industry has a social importance quite out of proportion to its absolute size. Although in 1971, the cost of medicine was only 12% of total costs, or 1 pound per day for each resident in Great Britain, most members of the community at some dine require its products, occasionally as a matter of urgency. It is perhaps not surprising that economists have made attempts to shed light on which industrial structure optimizes its performance. There is general agreement that competition between the makers of prescription medicines is conducted principally through the search for and marketing of new patentable products, price competition playing a relatively minor role. The international research-based companies, which occupy an important place in the ethical sector, typically spend 7-12% of their turnover on research and development, and worldwide research expenditure is currently of the order of £500 million per annum, of which some half is incurred in the United States and £15 million in Great Britain.
- Subjects
UNITED Kingdom; UNITED States; DRUGS; PHARMACEUTICAL industry; PHARMACEUTICAL research; INDUSTRIAL research; MEDICAL care costs; ECONOMISTS; PATENTS
- Publication
Journal of Industrial Economics, 1973, Vol 22, Issue 2, p81
- ISSN
0022-1821
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/2098122