The Impact of Public and Private Research on Premature Cancer Mortality and Hospitalization in the United States, 1999-2013

Abstract

This article provides evidence about the impact that public and private research had on premature mortality and hospitalization due to cancer in the United States during the period 1999-2013. We estimate difference-in-differences models based on longitudinal, cancer-site-level data to determine whether the cancer sites about which more research-supported articles were published had larger subsequent reductions in premature mortality and hospitalization during the period 1999 to 2013, controlling for the change in the number of people diagnosed. Premature (before age 75 years) mortality is inversely related to the number of research-supported articles that had been published 9 to 15 years earlier, controlling for incidence and non-research publications. The number of hospital discharges attributed to cancer is also significantly inversely related to the number of research-supported articles previously published. Public and private research reduced the number of years of potential life lost before age 75 years due to cancer in 2013 by 566,000. JEL Classifications: I1, I18