Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
1-2023
Abstract
This study investigates the role of retail pharmacy ownership in the opioid epidemic. Using data of prescription opioid orders, we show that compared with chain pharmacies, independent pharmacies dispense 39.1% more opioids and 60.5% more OxyContin. After an independent pharmacy becomes a chain pharmacy, opioid dispensing decreases. Using the OxyContin reformulation, which reduced non-medical demand but not the legitimate medical demand, we show that at least a third of the difference in the amount of OxyContin dispensed can be attributed to non-medical demand. We show that differences in competitive pressure and whether pharmacists own the pharmacy drive our estimates.
Keywords
pharmacy, ownership, prescription opioids, drug diversion
Discipline
Chemicals and Drugs | Health Economics | Industrial Organization
Research Areas
Applied Microeconomics
Publication
American Economic Review
Volume
113
Issue
1
First Page
1
Last Page
33
ISSN
0002-8282
Identifier
10.1257/aer.20210357
Publisher
American Economic Association
Citation
JANSSEN, Aljoscha and ZHANG, Xuan.
Retail pharmacies and drug diversion during the opioid epidemic. (2023). American Economic Review. 113, (1), 1-33.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2670
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20210357