Price transparency: A threat or an opportunity for affordable medical treatments?

Last registered on February 23, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Price transparency: A threat or an opportunity for affordable medical treatments?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007230
Initial registration date
February 22, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
February 23, 2021, 6:19 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Germany
Region
Country
Spain
Region
Country
Netherlands
Region
Country
Poland
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Andreas Ziegler
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Valesca Retel
PI Affiliation
Netherlands Cancer Institute
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Wim van Harten
PI Affiliation
Netherlands Cancer Institute
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Theo Offerman
PI Affiliation
University of Amsterdam
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Giorgia Romagnoli
PI Affiliation
University of Amsterdam
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Nora Franzen
PI Affiliation
Netherlands Cancer Institute
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-02-23
End date
2021-07-31
Keywords
Firms & Productivity, Health
Additional Keywords
Drug pricing, markets, transparency, price discrimination, inequality
JEL code(s)
C90, I11, L11, O30
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Access to affordable medical treatments may be endangered by the current bargaining system, in which the prices countries pay remain secret. Proponents of price confidentiality claim that it enables price cuts for poorer countries. In a laboratory experiment, we provide empirical evidence on the effects of price transparency in bargaining.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Franzen, Nora et al. 2021. "Price transparency: A threat or an opportunity for affordable medical treatments?." AEA RCT Registry. February 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7230-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-02-23
Intervention End Date
2021-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
See the analysis plan.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Experimental markets with 4 countries (representing The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Spain) and one pharmaceutical company.

Three treatments: (1) price secrecy, where countries cannot share prices with other countries; (2) price transparency, where countries can share prices and observe other countries' prices; (3) full transparency, where in addition to price transparency, countries learn the company's R&D cost.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
We implemented two die rolls for ordering of treatments. Treatment orders are for the first sessions: T2, T3, T1. For the second sessions: T1, T2, T3.
Randomization Unit
Randomization of the treatment at a session level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
26 market groups per treatment.

This is the targeted number of groups. As this is an online experiment involving multiple labs, we recruit such that this number is reached, but better or worse than expected show-up or drop-outs may influence the number of groups per treatment. We randomize in advance the treatment assignment, and have recruitment balanced across treatments.
Sample size: planned number of observations
5 participants per market group per treatment, so 390 participants.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Per treatment, 130 participants in 26 market groups.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Committee Economics and Business, University of Amsterdam
IRB Approval Date
2021-02-01
IRB Approval Number
EC20210201060246
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials