Pharmaceuticals as a Market for Lemons

The Institute of Economics will hold a seminar meeting as part of its Seminar Series on Tuesday, May 17, 2022: Donald W. Light from the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine in New Jersey will discuss about "Pharmaceuticals as a Market for Lemons".

Commercial and government pharmaceutical policy rewards companies to discover, develop, and approve medicines that have hidden risks of harm or “lemons”. This talk will critique Akerlof’s economic theory for “lemons” and apply it to prescription drugs, where risks are much greater than for used cars! 

Donald Light is a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Economics, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa. With Antonio Maturo, he co-authored GOOD PARMA, a book that celebrates the ethics and practices of the Mario Negri Institute for non-commercialized, non-lemon R&D. As a professor of psychiatry and comparative health policy at the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine in New Jersey, he has published widely about the ethics and myths of pharmaceutical policy. (See https://www.donaldlight-pharma.com). Professor Light has been a visiting professor at Bocconi University, Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Harvard and other universities.

The speech by prof. Light will be followed by a discussion involving prof. Caterina Sganga (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna) and prof. Luigi Marengo (LUISS).

The seminar will be held in blended mode. In person participation is possible and available seats are allocated on a first come first served basis. For online participation please use the following link.