Biography
Michael Darden is an Associate Professor at the Carey School of Business at Johns Hopkins University. He is also a Research Faculty Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Co-Editor at the Journal of Human Resources. Dr. Darden conducts research in health economics and health econometrics. His research has appeared in numerous academic journals, including the Journal of Political Economy and all three major health economics journals. He teaches Masters of Science and Masters of Business Administration courses in health care markets, economics for decision making, and econometrics. Dr. Darden obtained a BS in Economics from North Carolina State University (2005) and earned his PhD in Economics from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2011).
Student Lecture: 21 March 2024
Optimal E-Cigarette Policy: Theory and Evidence
An examination of applying economic theory and econometric evidence to inform policy in the context of electronic cigarettes.Faculty Lecture: 22 March 2024
Externalities from Medical Innovations: Evidence from Organ Transplantation
We evaluate the introduction of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for hepatitis C (HCV) on liver transplant allocation in the United States. We develop a model of listing and organ acceptance behavior for patients with end-stage liver disease. In the model, DAAs obviate the need for transplant for some HCV-positive patients, which shortens the waiting list, potentially benefiting HCV-negative registrants and inducing marginal HCV-negative patients to register. Using data from the universe of transplants between 2005 and 2019, we find that DAA availability resulted in an additional 5,682 liver transplants to HCV-negative end-stage liver disease patients between 2014 and 2019, generating a positive externality of $7.52 billion. Our result is driven in part by a 37% average annual increase in HCV-negative waiting list registrations. In the absence of this behavioral response, DAA therapies would have eliminated the liver transplant waiting list.