What is the effect of national antitrust policies in a world with international trade? Traditionally, economic analysis of mergers has assumed a closed economy, which—as we show in this paper—may lead to errant policy in an open economy. We use a very simple model to highlight some key...

Brand-name pharmaceutical firms in Canada, upon the expiry of their patent, always license a "pseudo- generic" firm to compete directly against generic firms. This pseudo-generic is identical to the brand-name product, but is marketed as a generic, with the pseudo-generic firm receiving a...

Hundreds of independent, local, quasi-charitable microcredit societies, or "loan funds," were lending to as many as 20% of Irish households in the mid-nineteenth century. Monitored by a central regulatory authority, funds in the system were successful in mitigating informational, moral hazard...

Antibiotic resistance is a critical threat to human and animal health. Despite the importance of antibiotics, regulators continue to allow antibiotics to be used in low-value applications – subtherapeutic dosing in animals, and spraying tobacco plants for blue mold, for example – where the...

This paper offers an economic rationale for compulsory licensing of needed medicines in developing countries. The patent system is based on a trade-off between the “deadweight losses†caused by market power and the incentive to innovate created by increased profits from monopoly...