Medicines and the New Economic Environment
(1998; 252 pages) [Spanish]
Table of Contents
View the documentTHE AUTHORS
View the documentPREFACE
View the documentINTRODUCTION
Close this folderI. THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
Open this folder and view contentsI.1. Opening Speech: Welfare State, Economic Policy and Health Services
Open this folder and view contentsI.2. The Uruguay Round and Drugs
Close this folderI.3. The Normalisation of the International Market for Pharmaceuticals: Future Impacts in Emerging Markets
View the document1. THE GLOBAL CONTEXT
Open this folder and view contents2. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NORMS
Close this folder3. FUTURE TRENDS IN A NORMALISED WORLD
Close this folder3.1. Location of and control over production
View the document3.1.1. A synthesis of the structure of production
View the document3.1.2. What model is the international market heading for?
View the document3.1.3. Options for local producers in emerging countries
View the document3.2. International trade
View the document4. THE STEPS TO FOLLOW
View the documentREFERENCES
Open this folder and view contentsII. THE REFORM OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS
Open this folder and view contentsIII. A CHANGING PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
Open this folder and view contentsIV. SYNTHESIS AND FORECASTS
View the documentBIBLIOTECA CIVITAS ECONOMÍA Y EMPRESA
View the documentBACK COVER
 
3.1.2. What model is the international market heading for?

The International Pharmaceutical Industry is not characterised either by subcontracting or major alliances between manufacturers, or between manufacturers and product designers (R&D). This setting implies that neither the automotive industry model (where privatisation, the elimination of many small/medium sized enterprises, the subcontracting of big firms, and foreign direct investment have characterised the evolution of firms in recent years)15, nor that of electronics (where the chances for a new firm to leap over the R&D obstacles to entry seem to be reasonably good), appear applicable. Neither does the International Pharmaceutical Industry lend itself to the weaving of subregional or international nets, where contacts based on ethnic and/or family links can play an important role (as is apparently the case in industrial branches such as clothing, and in certain service sectors).

15 Concerning the effective (although only partly formalized) standard setting in the automotive industry through the continuous improvement of production and management systems (benchmarking), see the essay by the present author cited in the Bibliography.

In consonance with current trends, the evolution seems to suggest the following changes:

• The elimination of many small/medium sized enterprises in emerging countries, along with mergers among others to try and capture economies of scale and scope. This change would be driven by both the direct and indirect impacts of standardisation.

• Regarding new foreign direct investment, only a modest rate of activity, concentrated in just a few (chiefly Asian) emerging countries. At the same time we should anticipate the closure (or simplification of operations) of several existing affiliates of foreign firms.

• A growing role for imports of finished products.

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Last updated: May 3, 2013