EU Enlargement, Parallel Trade and Price Competition in Pharmaceuticals - What’s to Blame? Derogation or Perception?

Given the cost of trade and availability of pharmaceuticals, the driving force for parallel trade is the price difference between the source (exporting) and the destination (importing) country. An increase in the price difference or in the availability of pharmaceuticals for parallel trade should increase price competition in the destination country. Using 2003-2007 data from Sweden we investigated whether EU enlargement in 2004, when new countries with low pharmaceutical prices joined the EU, increased competition from parallel imports. Drugs facing competition from parallel imports are found to have on average 17% to 21% lower prices than they would have had if they had never faced such competition. But, contrary to expectation, EU enlargement is not found to have increased this effect, which might be explained by derogations and changes in consumer perceptions of parallel imports.EU enlargement; parallel trade; pharmaceuticals; price competition

Parallel Imports and Mandatory Substitution Reform - A Kick or A Muff for Price Competition in Pharmaceuticals?

What has been the effect of competition from parallel imports on prices of locally-sourced on-patent drugs? Did the 2002 Swedish mandatory substitution reform increase this competition? To answer these questions, we carried out difference-in-differences estimation on monthly data for a panel of all on-patent prescription drugs sold in Sweden during the 40 months from January 2001 through April 2004. On average, facing competition from parallel imports caused a 15-17% fall in price. While the reform increased the effect of competition from parallel imports, it was only by 0.9%. The reform, however, did increase the effect of therapeutic competition by 1.6%.parallel imports; pharmaceutical drugs; price competition; reference pricing; therapeutic competition

Parallel Imports and Mandatory Substitution Reform - A Kick or A Muff for Price Competition in Pharmaceuticals?

What has been the effect of competition from parallel imports on prices of locally-sourced onpatent drugs? Did the 2002 Swedish mandatory substitution reform increase this competition? To answer these questions, we carried out difference-in-differences estimation on monthly data for a panel of all on-patent prescription drugs sold in Sweden during the 40 months from January 2001 through April 2004. On average, facing competition from parallel imports caused a 15-17% fall in price. While the reform increased the effect of competition from parallel imports, it was only by 0.9%. The reform, however, did increase the effect of therapeutic competition by 1.6%.parallel imports; pharmaceutical drugs; price competition; reference pricing; therapeutic competition

Contentious terrain in EU information society policies: Media pluralism and freedom of expression

In an EU context, the benefits attributed to new communication technologies are many: the creation of employment and economic growth; the enrichment of cultural/political dialogue and civic engagement; and, the permeation of a sense of European identity across the region. However, in the face of an increased emphasis on economic competitiveness both globally and at the EU policy level, there exists an unmistakable convergent approach to audiovisual/communications, cultural and competition policies. Parallel to this is an upsurge of concern—voiced by, for example, the European Parliament—over media pluralism and freedom of expression. Although the virtues of safeguarding “media pluralism” and “freedom of speech” in a healthy democracy are axiomatic, in the face of current dynamics, their meaning is widely contested. The purpose of this article is to offer an analysis of recent EU Information Society (IS) policies in relation to media pluralism and freedom of speech. Mediepluralisme og ytringsfrihed: Et omstridt felt inden for EU-informationssamfundspolitikker I en EU-kontekst er der mange fordele, som tilskrives nye kommunikationsteknologier: Skabelsen af beskæftigelse og økonomisk vækst; berigelsen af kulturel/politisk dialog og borgerengagement; og udbredelsen af en fornemmelse af europæisk identitet på tværs af regionerne. Men i lyset af en øget vægtning af økonomisk konkurrence, såvel globalt som i relation til EU's politikker, eksisterer der en umiskendelig sammensat tilgang til politikker for audiovisuel kommunikation, kultur og konkurrence. Parallelt med dette findes en pludselig stigning i interessen omkring mediepluralisme og ytringsfrihed. Skønt værdien af at beskytte ”mediepluralisme” og ”ytringsfrihed” i lyset af aktuelle dynamikker er aksiomatisk i et sundt demokrati, udfordres betydningen af dette i udstrakt grad. Formålet med denne artikel er at give en analyse af nyere EU-informationssamfundspolitikker (IS policies) i relation til mediepluralisme og ytringsfrihed

Ottoman Artisans as Waqf’s Founders (18th Century Istanbul)

Osmanlı şehirlerinde iktisadi faaliyetleri yürüten en önemli figür olan esnafın vakıflarla doğrudan veya dolaylı ilişkileri vardı. Osmanlı esnafı genellikle vakıfların kiracısı olarak mesleklerini icra etmekteydi. Bu çalışmada esnaf, vakıflarla ilişkisinde farklı bir kimlikle yani vakıf kurucusu olarak ele alınmıştır. Esnafın bireysel olarak vakıf kurma eğilimleri ve amaçları, Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü Arşivinde yer alan 18. yüzyıl İstanbul esnafına ait vakfiyeler çerçevesinde irdelenmiştir. 18. yüzyıl İstanbul örneğinde Osmanlı esnafının vakıf olarak kimlikleri, neleri vakfettikleri, aileleri, meslektaşlarıyla ilişkileri, vakıf şartları oluştururken yaptıkları tercihler ve beklentileri de analiz edilmiştir.The artisans who were the most important figure carrying out economic activities in Ottoman cities had direct or indirect relations with waqfs. The artisans were usually tenants of waqf shops. In this study, the Ottoman artisans has been examined in a different way by looking at them as founder of waqfs. By using the waqfiyyes of artisans of 18th century Istanbul kept in Archives of Directorate General of Foundations, their intentions and aims to establish waqfs individually are searched in detail. By taking artisans of 18th century Istanbul as examples, their identities, their families, affiliations with their colleagues, the reasons why they tended to found waqfs, what they donated, what they expected have been analyzed

Developing an adaptation test for students to daily life about the unit “Systems and Health in Our Body”

This study is aimed to develop an adaptation test to determine the adaptation level of the 6th grade students about the concepts and topics to their daily life included in the unit '' Systems and Health in Our Body''. The test items were prepared by considering the reasons of the problems that they can encounter in their daily life about the subject and the concepts. The test was reduced to 27 items depending on the opinions of the experts and the period that the students given to answer the items. The final application was conducted with 48 students after the necessary corrections were done. The evaluation of the test items was performed as an answer key and grading rubric were formed. In this study, Pearson correlation coefficient and the comparison of means theory was used to determine the scoring reliability among scorers. Keywords: Science; controller and regulatory systems; endocrine system; sense organs; daily lif

Arctic Geopolitics, Media and Power

Arctic Geopolitics, Media and Power provides a fresh way of looking at the potential and limitations of regional international governance in the Arctic region. Far-reaching impacts of climate change, its wealth of resources and potential for new commercial activities have placed the Arctic region into the political limelight. In an era of rapid environmental change, the Arctic provides a complex and challenging case of geopolitical interplay. Based on analyses of how actors from within and outside the Arctic region assert their interests and how such discourses travel in the media, this book scrutinizes the social and material contexts within which new imaginaries, spatial constructs and scalar preferences emerge. It places ground-breaking attention to shifting media landscapes as a critical component of the social, environmental and technological change. It also reflects on the fundamental dilemmas inherent in democratic decision making at a time when an urgent need for addressing climate change is challenged by conflicting interests and growing geopolitical tensions. This book will be of great interest to geography academics, media and communication studies and students focusing on policy, climate change and geopolitics, as well as policy-makers and NGOs working within the environmental sector or with the Arctic region