The Case for a Market for Livers

Nikhil Ramanathan
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Nikhil Ramanathan: The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise

No 111, Studies in Applied Economics from The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise

Abstract: Liver transplantation is a necessary procedure to save the lives of thousands of people suffering from a multitude of diseases. Unfortunately, there are currently 14,301 individuals in the United States in dire need of a liver currently on the wait list, with more people added each year than removed as a result of successful transplantation. This is largely due to the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984’s outlawing the compensation of donors for their organs, which, in concurrence with basic economic theory, has resulted in a vast supply shortage. This paper aims to assess the state of the organ transplantation system in the United States and make the case that compensation for organ donors will not only remedy the vast shortage, but would prove to be a more economical alternative than the status quo.

JEL-codes: I11 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 pages
Date: 2018-06
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:jhisae:0111

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