The Economic and Technological Framework of Pharmaceuticals

Abstract

The key economic and technological features of the pharmaceutical sector have been powerful factors shaping the governance and institutional system of the industry and indeed the strategies of individual firms within the industry. Outlining these key features will help to explain the way the industry has sought to shape and respond to governmental, institutional and technological pressures over the postwar period. The key elements of the economics and industrial framework of the sector will therefore he described in detail before the chapter concludes with an outline of the implications of the review for the analytical perspective set out in the rest of the book. We start, however, with a brief introduction and historical background to the industry in both countries.