Falsified or Substandard? Assessing Price and Non‐price Signals of Drug Quality

Pharmaceutical products can be of poor quality either because they contain zero correct active ingredient (referred to as “falsified”) or because they contain a nonzero but incorrect amount of the right active ingredient (referred to as “substandard”). Although both types of poor‐quality drugs can be dangerous, they differ in health consequence, price, and potential policy remedies. Assessing basic quality of 1437 samples of Ciprofloxacin from 18 low‐to‐middle‐ income countries, we aim to understand how price and nonprice signals can help distinguish between falsified, substandard, and passing drugs. Following the Global Pharma Health Fund e.V. Minilab® protocol, we find 9.88% of samples have less than 80% of the correct active ingredient and 41.5% of these failures are falsified. Falsified and substandard drugs tend to differ in two observable attributes: first, falsified drugs are more likely to mimic drugs registered with local drug safety regulators. Second, after controlling for other factors, substandard drugs are on average cheaper than passing generics in the same city but the price of falsified drugs is not significantly different from that of passing drugs on average. These data patterns suggest that careful consumers may have information to suspect a drug is substandard before purchase but substandard drugs can still exist to cater to poor and less‐educated population. In contrast, falsified drugs will be more difficult for consumers to identify ex ante because they appear similar to high‐quality, locally registered products in both price and packaging.     

Response to De Vroey

Abstract

This paper is a response to Michel De Vroey's review of our book, published in this issue of EJHET. Differently from De Vroey's, our aim is to understand the theoretical choices with which economists believed they were confronted at the time. This is reflected in the organisation of our book, the selection of topics (disequilibrium, imperfect competition, etc.), and the conclusions about the fate of disequilibrium macroeconomics.     

The Influence of Cognitive-based Group Composition on Decision-making Process and Outcome

The effects of cognitive-based group composition on decision-making process (problem formulation, ideation) and outcome (performance, time-to-decision) were investigated. Two types of composition based on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator were compared – a uni-temperament group composition (all sensing-judgers), common among supervisors and managers, and a multi-temperament composition (a sensing-judger, a sensing-perceiver, an intuitive-thinker, and an intuitive-feeler). While significant relationships were found between the process and outcome stages, cognitive-based group composition generally did not predict the decision-making process or outcome variables. A significant interaction between group composition and problem formulation, however, suggests that a multi-temperament (heterogeneous) composition can moderate the effect of problem formulation on performance. The implications of these findings for cognitive-based group composition and decision making are discussed, along with suggestions for future research     

THE IMPACT OF DEMAND UNCERTAINTY AND CONFIGURATION CAPACITY ON CUSTOMER SERVICE PERFORMANCE IN A CONFIGURE‐TO‐ORDER ENVIRONMENT

This paper examines the simultaneous impact of demand variability, demand skew, and configuration capacity on customer service in a configure‐to‐order environment. Simulation is done in ARENA and data are analyzed using ANOVA and MANOVA. The findings indicate that the factors studied have differential impact on performance both individually and interactively.     

PERSONAL BANKRUPTCY A RISK MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUE: POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to extend the risk management paradigm to include the decision by individuals to use the Federal Bankruptcy Act to manage personal financial risks. Broadening risk management to include personal bankruptcy is consistent with the view that risk management is no longer an interdisciplinary discipline that has a singular focus on managing corporate pure risks.     

New product strategy, structure, and performance in two environments

The relationships among environment, strategy, structure, and performance in the context of new product development are examined. The “fit” of strategy and structure to environment is found to be better modeled as a moderator of strength. Overall, the results support the importance of environment, strategy, and structure for the performance of new products. The basic conclusions are that the new product profile has a stronger positive effect on performance for nondominant competitors than for dominant competitors, whereas for dominant competitors, speed and first-to-market strategies are more important to long-term success.