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Table 10 Estimates of the elasticity of demand for prescription drugsa

From: What impact do prescription drug charges have on efficiency and equity? Evidence from high-income countries

Paper Type of cost sharing Price elasticity
Anessi Pessina [150] (IT, OS, TD, R) Co-payment -0.75 to -0.07
Carrin and Van Dael [177] (BE, OS, TS, R) Mixed system -0.35 to --0.09
Coulson and Stuart [146] (US, OS, CD, R) Primary insurance (vs. none) --0.18b
Gardner et al. [29] (US, NS, TD, R) Co-payment -0.38 to --0.23
Gibson et al. [90] (US, NS, PD, R) Multi-tier formulary (vs. 1- or 2-tiers) -0.27 to --0.03
Grootendorst and Levine [56] (CA, OS, CD, R) Mixed system -0.40 to 0.14
Grootendorst et al. [184] (CA, OS, CD, R) Supplementary insurance (vs. none) -0.13b to --0.09b
Harris et al. [157] (US, NS, TD, R) Co-payment -0.17b to --0.06b
Hughes and McGuire [158] (UK, NS, TD, R) Co-payment -0.37 to -0.32
Klick and Stratmann [25] (US, OS, CD, R) Mixed system -0.56
Landsman et al. [65] (US, NS, TD, R) Multi-tier formulary (vs. 1- or 2-tiers) -1.15 to -0.10
Lavers [162] (UK, NS, TD, R) Co-payment -0.22
Li et al. [31] (CA, NS, PD, R) Mixed system -0.20 to --0.11
Liebowitz et al. [48] (US, ES, CD, R) Co-insurance -0.10b
McManus et al. [165] (AU, NS, TD, R) Co-payment -0.80b to --0.50b
Meissner et al. [66] (US, OS, CD, NR) Multi-tier formulary (increase in co-payment for all tiers) -0.22 to 0.39
Mortimer [47] (US, OS, CD, R) Mixed system -1.91 to --0.03
Motheral and Henderson [63] (US, NS, CD, R) Multi-tier formulary (vs. 1- or 2-tiers) -0.32d
O'Brien [54] (UK, NS, TD, R) Co-payment --0.64 to --0.23
Puig-Junoy [174] (SP, OS, TD, R) Co-insurance -0.13
Ryan and Birch [55] (UK, NS, TD, R) Co-payment -0.11 to --0.09
Smith [89] (US, OS, CD, R) Mixed system -0.10
Smith and Watson [169] (UK, OS, CD, R) Co-payment -0.58c
Van Doorslaer [180] (BE, NS, TD, R) Change from co-payment to co-insurance -0.60 to --0.06
Van Vliet et al. [178] (NE, OS, CD, R) Deductible -0.02
  1. a In some cases the authors of a paper may have reported a different kind of elasticity and where possible we have recalculated their estimates to reflect the standard definitions of elasticity. Whether we used an arc, point or constant elasticity calculation depended on the type of statistical analysis used and the kind of information reported by the authors.
  2. bCalculated by the authors of this paper using the arc elasticity formula: e d = ((Q2 - Q1)/(Q2 + Q1))((P2 + P1)/(P2 - P1)).
  3. cCalculated by the authors of this paper using a log-linear calculation: e d = B j x ¯ MathType@MTEF@5@5@+=feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfKttLearuWrP9MDH5MBPbIqV92AaeXatLxBI9gBaebbnrfifHhDYfgasaacPC6xNi=xH8viVGI8Gi=hEeeu0xXdbba9frFj0xb9qqpG0dXdb9aspeI8k8fiI+fsY=rqGqVepae9pg0db9vqaiVgFr0xfr=xfr=xc9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaaeqabiWaaaGcbaGafmiEaGNbaebaaaa@2D66@ , where B j represents the coefficient on the price variable and x ¯ MathType@MTEF@5@5@+=feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfKttLearuWrP9MDH5MBPbIqV92AaeXatLxBI9gBaebbnrfifHhDYfgasaacPC6xNi=xH8viVGI8Gi=hEeeu0xXdbba9frFj0xb9qqpG0dXdb9aspeI8k8fiI+fsY=rqGqVepae9pg0db9vqaiVgFr0xfr=xfr=xc9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaaeqabiWaaaGcbaGafmiEaGNbaebaaaa@2D66@ is the mean price.
  4. dCalculated by the authors of this paper using the point elasticity formula: e d = ((Q2 - Q1)/(Q1))((P1)/(P2 - P1))
  5. Country: AU = Australia; BE = Belgium; CA = Canada; IT = Italy; NE = The Netherlands; SP = Spain; UK = United Kingdom; US = United States
  6. Type of study: ES = experimental study; NS = natural study; OS = observational study
  7. Type of data analyzed: CD = cross-sectional data; TD = time-series data; PD = panel data
  8. Type of statistical analysis used: R = regression techniques; NR = no regression techniques
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