Do firms underinvest in long-term research? Evidence from cancer clinical trials.

Am Econ Rev

MIT Department of Economics and NBER, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E17-222, Cambridge MA 02139,

Published: July 2015

We investigate whether private research investments are distorted away from long-term projects. Our theoretical model highlights two potential sources of this distortion: short-termism and the fixed patent term. Our empirical context is cancer research, where clinical trials - and hence, project durations - are shorter for late-stage cancer treatments relative to early-stage treatments or cancer prevention. Using newly constructed data, we document several sources of evidence that together show private research investments are distorted away from long-term projects. The value of life-years at stake appears large. We analyze three potential policy responses: surrogate (non-mortality) clinicaltrial endpoints, targeted R&D subsidies, and patent design.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4557975PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.20131176DOI Listing

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