Assistive Technology Pricingin Australia: Is It Efficient and Equitable?

Michael Summers and George Verikios

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Recently, concerns have been raised that in comparison to prices for assistive technology (AT) (e.g., disability aids and equipment)in other countries, Australian AT retailers’ prices are excessive. We present three sets of price comparisons for AT that indicate Australian prices arelow comparedto other countries. Further, there is no evidence of suppliers earning supranormal profits in Australia. Together, all the evidence suggests that AT prices in Australia are efficient and equitable. Efforts to reduce prices through the excessive use of large-scale government procurement programs are likely to reduce diversity and innovation in AT and raise AT prices over time.

Keywords: assistive technology; efficiency; equity; government procurement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 I14 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-02-23, Revised 2016-12-09
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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