Professor Frank Lichtenberg presents the upcoming Fred Gruen public lecture

The longevity and budgetary impact of the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

Hosted by The Australian National University (ANU) Research School of Economics

Registration is required to attend. Refreshments will be provided.

In his presentation, Frank will assess the effect of long-run changes in the drugs provided by the PBS on mortality and hospital utilisation in Australia. He will estimate that if the number of PBS drugs had not increased between 1996 and 2013, the number of years of life lost before age 85 in 2019 would have been 21.2 per cent higher than it actually was. Furthermore, he will demonstrate that the 1996–2013 increase in the number of PBS drugs reduced the number of years of life lost before age 85 in 2019 by 359,026.

Frank will show that if the number of PBS drugs had not increased between 1994 and 2011, the number of hospital days in 2019 would have been 10.6 per cent higher than it actually was, and that the 1994–2011 increase in the number of PBS drugs reduced the number of hospital days in 2019 by A$2.48 million.

About the presenter: Professor Frank Lichtenberg

Frank R. Lichtenberg is Cain Brothers & Company Professor of Healthcare Management in the Faculty of Business (Economics Division) at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a member of the CESifo Research Network. Frank received a Bachelor of History (Honours) from the University of Chicago, and a Master and PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Frank previously taught at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Ecole Polytechnique. He has served as an expert for the Federal Trade Commission, the United States (US) Department of Justice, and state Attorneys General, and has testified before Congress. He worked for several US government agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Census Bureau. Frank has also been a visiting scholar at institutions around the world, including Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, the University of Munich.

Frank’s research has examined how the introduction of new technology arising from research and development affects the productivity of companies, industries and nations. He has performed studies on the impact of pharmaceutical innovation on longevity, the effect of computers on productivity in business and government organisations, and the consequences of takeovers and leveraged buyouts for efficiency and employment. His articles have been published in numerous scholarly journals and in the popular press. His book Corporate Takeovers and Productivity was published by MIT Press.

Frank has received a number of prizes for his research papers and has been awarded numerous prestigious research fellowships, grants, and contracts. He has also served as a consultant to many private organisations and government agencies.

View Frank’s full bio here.

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