Reflection on “Mitigating the U.S. Drug Shortages through Pareto-Improving Contracts”

The study “Mitigating the U.S. Drug Shortages Through Pareto-Improving Contracts” was selected as a runner-up for the Ralph Gomory Best Industry Studies Paper Award by the Industry Studies Association in 2017. The award aims at “explicit recognition of the researchers’ engagement with industry practitioners and demonstrate the benefits of such interactions for scholarly research.” The awarded study addresses the drug shortages problem, a major challenge facing the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and government in recent years. This reflection article provides the “back story” of the study—the motivation, the challenges, the important steps, and the interactions with government agencies and industry practitioners.