Trials, tricks and transparency: how disclosure rules affect clinical knowledge

Matthias Dahm, Paula González and Nicolás Porteiro

Working Papers from Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics

Abstract: Scandals of selective reporting of clinical trial results by pharmaceutical firms have underlined the need for more transparency in clinical trials. We provide a theoretical framework which reproduces incentives for selective reporting and yields three key implications concerning regulation. First, a compulsory clinical trial registry complemented through a voluntary clinical trial results database can implement full transparency (the existence of all trials as well as their results is known). Second, full transparency comes at a price. It has a deterrence effect on the incentives to conduct clinical trials, as it reduces the firms'gains from trials. Third, in principle, a voluntary clinical trial results database without a compulsory registry is a superior regulatory tool; but we provide some qualified support for additional compulsory registries when medical decision-makers cannot anticipate correctly the drug companies' decisions whether to conduct trials. Keywords: pharmaceutical firms, strategic information transmission, clinical trials, registries, results databases, scientific knowledge JEL classification: D72, I18, L15

Keywords: Indústria farmacèutica; Comunicació científica; Assaigs clínics; Coneixement científic; 338 - Situació econòmica. Política econòmica. Gestió; control i planificació de l'economia. Producció. Serveis. Turisme. Preus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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http://hdl.handle.net/2072/5360

Related works:
Journal Article: Trials, tricks and transparency: How disclosure rules affect clinical knowledge (2009)
Working Paper: Trials, Tricks and Transparency: How Disclosure Rules Affect Clinical Knowledge (2008)
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