One of the reasons why regulators are hesitant about permitting price competition in healthcare markets is that it may damage quality when information is poor. Evidence on whether this fear is well-founded is scarce. We provide evidence using a reform that permitted Dutch health insurers and...

We analyze health care option demand markets with vertical restraints divided along two dimensions: naked and conditional exclusion, and vertical integration; applicable to the upstream, the downstream, and both markets. Our unified framework includes forward and backward integration, and joint...

We present a newly designed market experiment to study regulatory issues in markets with advice inspired by the models of Inderst and Ottaviani (2012a) and Inderst (2015). In line with our predictions, our experimental markets create conflicts of interest and unsuitable advice biased toward...

We develop a model of gestational surrogacy, in which a childless couple faces heterogeneous prospective surrogates. High-type surrogates add more value but also have higher outside options. Surrogates can make specific investments for the overall well-being (care) of the unborn child. We show...

Many service industries, including the medical and legal professions in some countries, display a gated structure. Rather than approaching a final producer directly, a consumer will first seek a referral from an intermediary. In this paper, we provide one possible explanation for such an...

Many service industries, including the medical and legal professions in some countries, display a gated structure. Rather than approaching a final producer directly, a consumer will first seek a referral from an intermediary. Such an industry structure might help to alleviate adverse selection...

There is increasing concern that overlapping patents in the field of genetics will create a costly and legally complex situation known as a patent thicket, which, along with the associated issues of accumulating royalty payments, can act as a disincentive for innovation. One potential means of...

Patents in the life sciences sector have sparked considerable debate over the past years. The grant of a series of patents for the screening of breast cancer (BRCA) genes led to wide controversy in Europe, the US and Australia. The grant of patents for plants resulting from essentially...

In the ongoing debate concerning DNA patents, there is a need for empirical data. We aim at treating this data set for DNA patents related to diagnostic genetic testing. To this end we developed two tools to facilitate this process. First, we set up a search strategy to find the relevant...

Ever since genes were first patented, the legitimacy and economics of human gene patents have been at the forefront of intense debate. Different stakeholders have expressed concerns about the effect of ‘blocking patents’ or ‘patent thickets’ on genetic technology, arguing that because...