“Stocking Under the Influence: Spilloversfrom Commercial Drug Coverage to Medicare Utilization”(with Emma B. Dean and Josh Feng) Revisions requested at American Economic Review

We argue that drug coverage in commercial insurance can affect utilization in Medicare Part B. Leveraging state-level variation in the adoption of national formularies as an IV, we show that higher exclusion rates in commercial formularies are causally linked to lower Part B utilization. Prescribing patterns of physicians operating across multiple facilities show that the effect is not driven by physician preferences but by facility stocking behavior.

“Mergers that Matter: The Impact of M&A Activity in Prescription Drug Markets” (with Josh Feng, Thomas Hwang, and Yunjuan Liu)

We build a novel dataset tracking acquisitions of branded drugs. Horizontal acquisitions that escape regulatory scrutiny are followed by large price increases. Cross-market acquisitions that do not involve directly competing drugs do not have a detectable effect on prices.

Media coverage: Chicago Booth Review

“Biosimilar Entry and the Pricing of Biologic Drugs”(with Josh Feng, Thomas Hwang, and Jacob Klimek) Revisions requested at Review of Industrial Organization

We show that originator biologics respond to biosimilar entry by reducing net-of-rebate prices to maintain volume, in contrast to the well-documented response of small-molecule drugs to generic entry, and provide suggestive evidence that perceived differences drive the strategic response.