The Market Impacts of Pharmaceutical Product Patents in Developing Countries : Evidence from India

Duggan, Mark ; Garthwaite, Craig ; Goyal, Aparajita

American Economic Association

关键词: intellectual property;    patents;    pharmaceutical industry;    World Trade Organization;    TRIPS;   

DOI  :  10.1257/aer.20141301
RP-ID  :  104057

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

In 2005, as the result of a World Trade Organization mandate, India implemented a patent reform for pharmaceuticals that was intended to comply with the 1995 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Exploiting variation in the timing of patent decisions, we estimate that a molecule receiving a patent experienced an average price increase of just 3-6 percent, with larger increases for more recently developed molecules and for those produced by just one firm when the patent system began. Our results also show little impact on quantities sold or on the number of pharmaceutical firms operating in the market.