Measuring the Costs and Benefits of Pharmaceutical Expenditures

Authors: Crown, WH; Ling, D; and Berndt, E.

This paper presents a methodological approach for analyzing growth in pharmaceutical expenditures, enabling researchers to disaggregate growth into price and volume components. Research using this methodology (see Explaining Drug Spending Trends: Does Perception Match Reality?) has found increased volume, not price, is the primary driver of pharmaceutical spending growth.