Since the early 1990s, U.S. pharmaceutical firms havepartially outsourced the coordination of the clinical trialsthey sponsor to specialized firms called contract researchorganizations. Although these exchanges appeared ripefor the development of close, “embedded” ties, they werein fact...

The thesis comprises three essays on various aspects of the development and diffusion of pharmaceutical innovations, woven together by the idea that the production of clinical knowl- edge influences organizational design, pricing, and advertising decisions in the pharmaceutical industry - that...