Cristina Pérez

Department of Social and Legal Sciences, SEK International University

Ecuador

cristina.perez@uisek.edu.ec

Evolution of GDP and its impact on the pharmaceutical sector of Ecuador (2007-2016)

Carlos Fernández

Department of Social and Legal Sciences, SEK International University

Ecuador

carlos.fernández@uisek.edu.ec

Vicente Méndez

Department of Economic and Administrative Sciences, University of Cuenca

Ecuador

vicente.mendez@ucuenca.edu.ec

Paola Méndez

Department of Economic and Administrative Sciences, University of Cuenca

Ecuador

paola.mendez@ucuenca.edu.ec

Angie Fernández

Department of Economic, Administrative and Trade Sciences, University of the Armed Forces ESPE

Ecuador

aafernandez2@espe.edu.ec 

Abstract. In the last decade there has been an increase in Ecuador’s GDP observed, despite the economic slowdown in 2015 and 2016. Likewise, there has been an increase in spending on health, especially in the public sector, supported by the legislative framework of Ecuador. The objective of the article is to determine the relationship between GDP and healthcare expenditures, both public and private, and also the the income and profits of the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, we intends to check whether the changes taking place in this Latin American country have had any effect on the degree of concentration in this sector, traditionally oligopolistic. The data were collected from government agencies. The processing of the collected information was carried out with the use of SPSS. In the course of these statistical analyses we have found evidence of the strong relationship between GDP and healthcare spending, both public and private, in connection with the performance of the pharmaceutical companies. Dominance of the oligopolistic features was corroborated, despite the evidences of the concentration decrease in the last ten years (2007-2016). The empirical study of the sample has demonstrated there is a strong relation of GDP with the income and profits of the pharmaceutical sector, as well as with health spending in general, among other results.

Received: August, 2017

1st Revision: November, 2017

Accepted: December, 2017

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2018/11-1/22

JEL Classification: E3, F4, O4

Keywords: pharmaceuticals, GDP, healthcare expenditures, economy, economic cycles