@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp12872,
            	author={Deiana, Claudio and Giua, Ludovica and Nistico, Roberto},
            	title={The Economics behind the Epidemic: Afghan Opium Price and Prescription Opioids in the US},
            	year={2019},
	month={Dec},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={12872},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp12872},
	abstract={We investigate the effect of variations in the price of opium in Afghanistan on per capita dispensation of prescription opioids in the US. Quarterly county-level data for 2003-2016 indicate that reductions in opium prices significantly increase the quantity of opioids prescribed. The increase involves natural and semi-synthetic but not fully synthetics opioids, therefore suggesting that the effect is moderated by the amount of opium contained in the products. While this evidence could suggest a pass-through of lower production costs to retail prices, boosting patients' demand for opioids, we fail to detect significant effects of changes in retail prices on per capita dispensation. Moreover, firm-level analysis reveals that advertising expenses of opioid producers increase following opium price declines and so do their stock prices and profits. Overall, our findings suggest that supply-side economic incentives might have played an important role in the opioid epidemic.},
	keywords={opium price;drugs;prescription opioids;supply-side economic incentives},
            }