EuHEA Seminar: Zhegnan Zu (Imperial College London)

Zhegnan Zhu

Abstract

The diffusion of generic drugs is of great importance in reducing healthcare costs. Using the universe of statins prescriptions data in Finland, this paper constructs physician networks connected through patients and examines the effect of patient- sharing network on the prescription of generic versus branded drugs. When a patient moves from one physician to another, two physicians are connected as peers and patients transmit information between physicians. The results show that a physician’s likelihood of prescribing generic drugs is not influenced by the behaviours of peers when the information channel of new patients is considered. The empirical evidence suggests that patients can be a valuable channel for knowledge transfer between physicians. Physicians are more likely to prescribe generic drugs when they treat more new patients, conditional on patient, physician, and drug characteristics. The effects are stronger if the new patients come from peers comparing to those new to the patient population.

Discussant: Annika Herr (Leibniz Universität Hannover)

Chair: Matteo Lippi Bruni (Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna)