Amitabh Chandra

Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy at Harvard Kennedy School

Henry and Allison McCance Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School

Biography

Harvard Kennedy School

Amitabh Chandra is the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy and Director of Health Policy Research at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He teaches undergraduates in Harvard College, graduate students at the Kennedy School and Business School, and in Harvard's Executive Education programs.

Professor Chandra is a member of the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Panel of Health Advisors, and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). His research focuses on innovation and cost-growth in healthcare, medical malpractice, and racial disparities in healthcare. His research has been supported by the National Institute of Aging, the National Institute of Child Health and Development, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and has been published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Health Affairs. He is the Chair Editor of the Review of Economics and Statistics.

Chandra has testified to the United States Senate and the United States Commission on Civil Rights. His research has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, Newsweek, and on National Public Radio. He has been a consultant to the RAND Corporation, Microsoft Research, the Institute of Medicine and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts. In 2011 he served as Massachusetts' Special Commissioner on Provider Price Reform.

Professor Chandra is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the first-prize recipient of the Upjohn Institute's Dissertation Award, the Kenneth Arrow Award for best paper in health economics, and the Eugene Garfield Award for the impact of medical research. In 2012, he was awarded American Society of Health Economists (ASHE) medal. The ASHE Medal is awarded biennially to the economist age 40 or under who has made the most significant contributions to the field of health economics.

Selected Publications

Academic Journal/Scholarly Articles

  • Chandra, Amitabh, Michael Frakes, and Anup Malani. "Challenges to Reducing Discrimination and Health Inequity through Existing Civil Rights Laws." Health Affairs 36.6 (June 2017): 1041-1047.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Rachel E. Sachs. "An FDA Commissioner for the 21st Century." The New England Journal of Medicine 376.15 (April 2017): 31-33.
  • Stern, A.D., B. M. Alexander, and Amitabh Chandra. "How Economics Can Shape Precision Medicines." Science 355.6330 (17 Mar 2017): 1131-1133.
  • Schupbach, John, Amitabh Chandra, and Robert S. Huckman. "A Simple Way to Measure Health Care Outcomes." Harvard Business Review (December 8, 2016).
  • Chandra, Amitabh. "The Past and Future of the Affordable Care Act." Journal of the American Medical Association 316.5 (August 2016): 497-499.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Amy Finkelstein, Adam Sacarny, and Chad Syverson. "Healthcare Exceptionalism? Performance and Allocation in the U.S. Healthcare Sector." The American Economic Review 106.8 (August 2016): 2110-2114.
  • Sahni, Nikhil R., Maurice Dalton, David M. Cutler, John D. Birkmeyer, and Amitabh Chandra. "Surgeon Specialization and Operative Mortality in United States: Retrospective Analysis." British Medical Journal (July 21, 2016).
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Jason Shafrin, and Ravinder Dhawan. "Utility of Cancer Value Frameworks for Patients, Payers, and Physicians." Journal of the American Medical Association 315.19 (May 17, 2016): 2069-2070.
  • Chandra, Amitabh. "Sources of Inefficiency in Healthcare and Education." American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 106.5 (May 2016).
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Amy Finkelstein, Adam Sacarny, and Chad Syverson. "Productivity Dispersion in Medicine and Manufacturing." American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 106.5 (May 2016).
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Jacqueline Vanderpuye-Orgle. "Competition and Biosimilar Products--In Reply." JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association 314.24 (December 2015): 2692-2692.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Amy Finkelstein, Adam Sacarny, and Chad Syverson. "Research: Perhaps Market Forces Do Work in Health Care After All." Harvard Business Review (December 2016).
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Jacqueline Vanderpuye-Orgle. "Competition in the Age of Biosimilars." Journal of the American Medical Association 314.3 (July 2015).
  • Yasaitis, Laura C., Lisa F. Berkman, and Amitabh Chandra. "Comparison of Self-Reported and Medicare Claims-Identified Acute Myocardial Infarction." Circulation 131.17 (April 2015): 1477-1485.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Julia Thornton Snider, Wu Yanyu, Anupam Jena, and Dana Goldman. "Robot-Assisted Surgery For Kidney Cancer Increased Access To A Procedure That Can Reduce Mortality And Renal Failure." Health Affairs 34.2 (February 2015): 220-228.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Dhruv Khullar, and Thomas Lee. "Addressing the Challenge of Gray-Zone Medicine." New England Journal of Medicine 372.3 (January 2015): 203-205.
  • Chen, Christopher, Gabriel Scheffler, and Amitabh Chandra. "Readmission Penalties and Health Insurance Expansions: A Dispatch from Massachusetts." Journal of Hospital Medicine 9.11 (November 2014): 681–687.
  • Yasaitis, Laura C., Thomas Bubolz, Jonathan Skinner, and Amitabh Chandra. "Local Population Characteristics and Hemoglobin A1c Testing Rates among Diabetic Medicare Beneficiaries." PLoS ONE 9.10 (October 2014): 1-8.
  • McKellar, Michael R., Sivia Naimer, Mary B. Landrum, Teresa B. Gibson, Amitabh Chandra, and Michael Chernew. "Insurer Market Structure and Variation in Commercial Health Care Spending." Health Services Research 49.3 (June 2014): 878–892.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Dhruv Khullar, and Gail R. Wilensky. "The Economics of Graduate Medical Education." New England Journal of Medicine 370.25 (June 2014): 2357-2360.
  • Seabury, Seth A., Amitabh Chandra, and Anupam B. Jena. "Gender Income Disparities Can Be Explained by Alternative Factors—Reply." JAMA Internal Medicine 174.5 (May 2014): 822-823.
  • Chandra, Amitabh. "Medical Professional Liability Risk Among US Cardiologists." American Heart Journal 167.5 (May 2014): 690–696.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Jonathan Gruber, and Robin McKnight. "The Impact of Patient Cost-Sharing on Low-Income Populations: Evidence from Massachusetts." Journal of Health Economics 33 (January 2014): 57–66.
  • Anupam B. Jena, Amitabh Chandra, and Seth A. Seabury. "Malpractice Risk Among US Pediatricians." Pediatrics 131.6 (June 2013): 1148-1154.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Maurice A. Dalton, and Jonathan Holmes. "Large Increases In Spending On Postacute Care In Medicare Point To The Potential For Cost Savings In These Settings." Health Affairs (May 2013).
  • Seabury, Seth A., Amitabh Chandra, Darius N. Lakdawalla, and Anupam B. Jena. "On Average, Physicians Spend Nearly 11 Percent Of Their 40-Year Careers With An Open, Unresolved Malpractice Claim." Health Affairs 32.1 (January 2013): 111-119.
  • Seabury, Seth A., Anupam B. Jena, and Amitabh Chandra. "Trends in the Earnings of Health Care Professionals in the United States, 1987-2010." Journal of the American Medical Association 308.20 (2012): 2083-2085.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Jonathan Skinner. "Technology Growth and Expenditure Growth in Health Care." Journal of Economic Literature 50.3 (September 2012): 645-80.
  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "The Health Care Jobs Fallacy." New England Journal of Medicine 366.26 (June 28, 2012): 2433-2435.
  • Jena, Anupam B., Amitabh Chandra, Darius Lakdawalla, and Seth Seabury. "Outcomes of Medical Malpractice Litigation Against US Physicians." Archives of Internal Medicine 172.11 (June 2012): 892-889.
  • Baicker, Katherine, Amitabh Chandra, and Jonathan S. Skinner. "Saving Money or Just Saving Lives? Improving the Productivity of US Health Care Spending." Annual Review of Economics 4 (2012): 12.1-12.24.
  • Alhassani, Ali, Amitabh Chandra, and Michael E. Chernew. "Perspective: The Sources of the SGR "Hole"." New England Journal of Medicine 366.2 (January 26, 2012): 89-291.
  • Chen, Christopher, Gabriel Scheffler, and Amitabh Chandra. "Massachusetts' Health Care Reform and Emergency Department Utilization." New England Journal of Medicine 365.12 (September 22, 2011).
  • Jena, Anupam B., Seth Seabury, Darius Lakdawalla, and Amitabh Chandra. "Malpractice Risk According to Physician Specialty." New England Journal of Medicine 365.7 (August 2011): 629-636.
  • Hanson, Jamie L., Amitabh Chandra, Barbara L. Wolfe, and Seth D. Pollak. "Association between Income and the Hippocampus." PLoS ONE 6.5 (May 2011): e18712.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Anupam B. Jena, and Jonathan S. Skinner. "The Pragmatist’s Guide to Comparative Effectiveness Research." Journal of Economic Perspectives 25.2 (Spring 2011): 27–46.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Jonathan Gruber, and Robin McKnight. "The Importance of the Individual Mandate — Evidence from Massachusetts." New England Journal of Medicine 364.4 (January 2011): 293-295.
  • Alhassani, Ali, Michael Chernew, Amitabh Chandra. "The Sources of the SGR “Hole”." New England Journal of Medicine 366.4 (January 26, 2011): 289-291.
  • Bynum, Julie P. W., Elliott S. Fisher, Yunjie Song, Jonathan Skinner, and Amitabh Chandra. "Measuring Racial Disparities in the Quality of Ambulatory Diabetes Care." Medical Care 48.12 (December 2010): 1057-1063.
  • Mello, Michelle M., Amitabh Chandra, Atul A. Gawande, and David M. Studdert. "National Costs Of The Medical Liability System." Health Affairs 29.9 (September 2010): 1569-1577.
  • Block, Jason P., Amitabh Chandra, Katherine D. McManus, and Walter C. Willett. "Point-of-Purchase Price and Education Intervention to Reduce Consumption of Sugary Soft Drinks." American Journal of Public Health 100.8 (August 2010): 1427-1433.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Jonathan Gruber, and Robin McKnight. "Patient Cost Sharing in Low Income Populations." American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings 100.2 (May 2010): 303-308.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Jonathan Gruber, and and Robin McKnight. "Patient Cost-Sharing and Hospitalization Offsets in the Elderly." American Economic Review 100.1 (March 2010): 193-213.
  • Chernew, Michael E., Lindsay M. Sabik, Amitabh Chandra, Teresa B. Gibson, and Joseph P. Newhouse. "Geographic Correlation Between Large-Firm Commercial Spending and Medicare Spending." American Journal of Managed Care 16.2 (February 2010): 131-138.
  • Chernew, Michael E., Lindsay M. Sabik, Amitabh Chandra, and Joseph P. Newhouse. "Ensuring the Fiscal Sustainability of Health Care Reform." New England Journal of Medicine 362.1 (January 7, 2010): 1-3.
  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "Uncomfortable Arithmetic — Whom to Cover versus What to Cover." New England Journal of Medicine 362.2 (December 16, 2009): 95-97.
  • Chernew, Michael E., Lindsay Sabik, Amitabh Chandra, and Joseph P. Newhouse. "Would Having More Primary Care Doctors Cut Health Spending Growth?" Health Affairs 28.5 (September/October 2009): 1327-1335.
  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "A Trillion-Dollar Geography Lesson." Health Affairs 28.5 (September/October 2009): 1448-1451.
  • Yasaitis, Laura, Elliott S. Fisher, Jonathan S. Skinner, and Amitabh Chandra. "Hospital Quality And Intensity Of Spending: Is There An Association?" Health Affairs 28.4 (July-August 2009): 566-572.
  • Chandra, Amitabh. "Who You Are and Where You Live: Race and the Geography of Healthcare." Medical Care 47.2 (February 2009): 135-137.
  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "Cooper's Analysis Is Incorrect." Health Affairs 28.1 (January/February 2009): 116-118.
  • Skinner, Jonathan, Amitabh Chandra, David Goodman, and Elliot S. Fisher. "The Elusive Connection Between Health Care Spending And Quality." Health Affairs 28.1 (January/February 2009): 119-123.
  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "Myths and Misconceptions about Health Insurance." Health Affairs 27.6 (September/October 2008).
  • Landrum, Mary Beth, Ellen R. Meara, Amitabh Chandra, Edward Guadagnoli, and Nancy L. Keating. "Is Spending More Always Wasteful? The Appropriateness of Care and Outcomes Among Colorectal Cancer Patients." Health Affairs 27.1 (January/February 2008): 159-168.
  • Baicker, Katherine, Elliott S. Fisher, and Amitabh Chandra. "Malpractice Liability Costs and the Practice of Medicine in the Medicare Program." Health Affairs 26.3 (May/June 2007): 841-852.
  • Jha, Ashish K., Douglas O. Staiger, Lee Lucas, and Amitabh Chandra. "Do Race-Specific Models Explain Disparities in Treatments after Acute Myocardial Infarction?" American Heart Journal 153.5 (May 2007): 785-791.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Douglas O. Staiger. "Productivity Spillovers in Health Care: Evidence from the Treatment of Heart Attacks." Journal of Political Economy 115.1 (February 2007): 103-140.
  • Baker, Laurence C., Christopher C. Afendulis, Amitabh Chandra, Shannon McConville, Ciaran S. Phibbs, and Elena Fuentes-Afflick. "Differences in Neonatal Mortality Among Whites and Asian American Subgroups: Evidence from California." Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161.1 (January 2007): 69-76.
  • Baicker, Katherine, Kasey S. Buckles, and Amitabh Chandra. "Geographic Variation in the Appropriate Use of Cesarean Delivery." Heath Affairs Web Exclusive 25.5 (Sep./Oct. 2006): w355-w367.
  • Baicker, Katherine and Amitabh Chandra. "The Labor Market Effects of Rising Health Insurance Premiums." Journal of Labor Economics 24.3 (July 2006): 609-634.
  • Chandra, Amitabh. "The Metrics of the Physician Brain Drain." New England Journal of Medicine 354.5 (February 2, 2006): 529-530.
  • Skinner, Jonathan, Amitabh Chandra, Douglas Staiger, Julie Lee, and Mark McClellan. "Mortality After Acute Myocardial Infarction in Hospitals That Disproportionately Treat Black Patients." Circulation 112.17 (October 2005): 2634-2641.
  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "Defensive Medicine and Disappearing Doctors?" Regulation 28.3 (Fall 2005): 24-31.
  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "The Consequences of the Growth of Health Insurance Premiums." The American Economic Review 95.2 (May 2005): 214-218.
  • Bollinger, Christopher R., and Amitabh Chandra. "Iatrogenic Specification Error: A Cautionary Tale of Cleaning Data." Journal of Labor Economics 23.2 (April 2005): 235-257.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Shantanu Nundy, and Seth A. Seabury. "The Growth Of Physician Medical Malpractice Payments: Evidence From The National Practitioner Data Bank." Health Affairs Web Exclusive 24 (Jan./Jun. 2005): 240-249.
  • Barnato, Amber E., F. Lee Lucas, Douglas Staiger, David E. Wennberg, and Amitabh Chandra. "Hospital-Level Racial Disparities in Acute Myocardial Infarction Treatment and Outcomes." Medical Care 43.4 (April 2005): 308-319.
  • Baicker, Katherine, Amitabh Chandra, and Jonathan S. Skinner. "Geographic Variation in Health Care and the Problem of Measuring Racial Disparities." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 48.1 (Supplement) (2005): S42-S53.

Book Chapters

  • Lee, Jinkook, P. Arokiasamy, Amitabh Chandra, Peifeng Hu, Jenny Liu, and Kevin Feeney. "Markers and Drivers: Cardiovascular Health of Middle Age and Older Indians." Aging in Asia: Findings from New and Emerging Data Initiatives. Ed. James P. Smith and Malay Majmundar. National Academies Press, 2012, 387-414.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Heidi Williams. Comment: Aging and Death under a Dollar a Day. Research Findings in the Economics of Aging. Ed. David A. Wise. University of Chicago Press, 2010, 203-209.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Heidi Williams. Comment: Income, Aging, Health and Well-Being around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll. Research Findings in the Economics of Aging. Ed. David A. Wise. University of Chicago Press, 2010, 263-267.
  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "Understanding Agglomerations in Health Care." Agglomeration Economics. Ed. Edward L. Glaeser. University of Chicago Press, 2010, 211 - 236.
  • Chandra, Amitabh. "Comment: Health and Well-Being in Udaipur and South Africa." Developments in the Economics of Aging. Ed. David A. Wise. National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report Series, University of Chicago Press, 2009.

HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series

  • Brot-Goldberg, Zarek C., Amitabh Chandra, Benjamin R. Handel, and Jonathan T. Kolstad. "What Does a Deductible Do? The Impact of Cost-Sharing on Health Care Prices, Quantities, and Spending Dynamics." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP15-060, October 2015.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Amy Finkelstein, Adam Sacarny, and Chad Syverson. "Healthcare Exceptionalism? Performance and Allocation in the U.S. Healthcare Sector." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP15-058, October 2015.

Research Papers/Reports

  • Bagley, Nicholas, Amitabh Chandra, and Austin Frakt. "Correcting Signals for Innovation in Health Care." Hamilton Project, October, 2015.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Anupam B. Jena, and Jonathan S. Skinner. "The Pragmatist's Guide to Comparative Effectiveness Research." NBER Working Paper 16990, April 2011.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Jonathan S. Skinner. "Technology Growth and Expenditure Growth in Health Care." NBER Working Paper 16953, April 2011.
  • Fisher, Elliott S., David C. Goodman, and Amitabh Chandra. "Disparities in Health and Health Care among Medicare Beneficiaries: A Brief Report of the Dartmouth Atlas Project." Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, June 2008.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Jonathan Gruber, and Robin McKnight. "Patient Cost-Sharing, Hospitalization Offsets, and the Design of Optimal Health Insurance for the Elderly." NBER Working Paper Series w12972, March 2007.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Jonathan Gruber, and Robin McKnight. "Medical Price Sensitivity and Optimal Health Insurance for the Elderly." Working Paper, March 2006.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Andrew A. Samwick. "Disability Risk and the Value of Disability Insurance." NBER Working Paper Series 11605, September 2005.
  • Baicker, Katherine and Amitabh Chandra. "The Labor Market Effects of Rising Health Insurance Premiums." NBER Working Paper Series 11160, February 2005.

Commentary

  • Chandra, Amitabh. "Defensive Medicine May Be Costlier Than It Seems." Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2013.
  • Mello, Michelle, and Amitabh Chandra. "The Cap Doesn’t Fit." New York Times, July 11, 2009.

Magazine and Newspaper Articles

  • Goldman, Dana, Amitabh Chandra, and Darius Lakdawalla. "It’s Easier to Measure the Cost of Health Care than Its Value." Harvard Business Review. November 18, 2014.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Jonathan Gruber, and Robin McKnight. "The Importance of the Individual Mandate — Evidence from Massachusetts." Health Policy and Reform. January 12, 2011.

Outside Professional Activities

Transparent Engagement

Harvard Kennedy School is proud of its energetic involvement in the world. To better understand how to solve public problems by improving policy and leadership, we engage directly with policymakers, public leaders, governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses whose activities affect those problems. However, we recognize that such engagement can raise questions about perceived and potential conflicts of interest, so we disclose publicly the key professional activities of our faculty outside the Kennedy School.

Outside Professional Activities For Amitabh Chandra

Disclosures for 2012:

  • The Hanley Physician Leadership Foundation, Maine (non-profit). Speaking Fee
  • Canadian Medical Association (non-profit). Speaking Fee.
  • Review of Economics and Statistics (journal). Editor Compensation.
  • Microsoft Research New England (research laboratory). Consultant.
  • Harvard Pilgrim Foundation (non-profit). Speaking Fee.
  • Institute of Medicine (non-profit). Consultant.
  • American Enterprise Institute (non-profit). Visiting Scholar.
  • Congressional Budget Office (Federal Government). Panel of Health Advisors. Unpaid.
  • Eli Lily and Company (for-profit). Participant for a day-long conference. Paid.

Disclosures for 2013:

  • Congressional Budget Office (Federal Government). Panel of Health Advisors. Unpaid.
  • Review of Economics and Statistics (journal). Editor Compensation.
  • Microsoft Research New England (research laboratory). Consultant.
  • Precision Health Economics (for profit). Consultant.
  • Institute of Medicine (IOM), Panel on Graduate Medical Education, Member of Panel. Unpaid.

Disclosures for 2014:

  • Congressional Budget Office (Federal Government). Panel of Health Advisors. Unpaid.
  • Review of Economics and Statistics (journal). Editor Compensation.
  • Microsoft Research New England (research laboratory). Consultant.
  • Precision Health Economics (for profit). Consultant.
  • HealthEngine (for profit), Co-Founder. Equity position only.
  • Maxwell Health, OK-CoPay, Advisory Boards.
  • GI Roundable, Speaking Fee
  • MAHIP, Speaking Fee
  • Institute of Medicine (IOM), Panel on Graduate Medical Education, Unpaid.

Disclosures for 2015:

  • Congressional Budget Office (Federal Government). Panel of Health Advisors. Unpaid.
  • Review of Economics and Statistics (journal). Editor Compensation.
  • Microsoft Research New England (research laboratory). Consultant.
  • Precision Health Economics (for profit). Consultant.
  • HealthEngine, Kyruus, Maxwell Health, OK-Copay. Advisor.
  • Pfizer, Vertex, Biogen, Novo Nordisk, PCMA, Alliance for Healthcare Reform, Speaking fee.

Disclosures for 2016:

  • Congressional Budget Office (Federal Government). Panel of Health Advisors. Unpaid.
  • Review of Economics and Statistics (journal). Editor Compensation.
  • Microsoft Research New England (research laboratory). Consultant.
  • Precision Health Economics (for profit). Consultant.
  • HealthEngine, Kyruus, Maxwell Health, OK-Copay. Advisor.
  • Washington Speakers Bureau, Prime Therapeutics, CAPG, Speaking fee.
  • Director, Healthcare Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School

Disclosures for 2017:

  • Congressional Budget Office (Federal Government). Panel of Health Advisors. Unpaid.
  • Washington Speakers Bureau, Speaking fee
  • Review of Economics and Statistics (journal). Editor Compensation.
  • HealthEngine, Kyruus, Maxwell Health, OK-Copay. Advisor
  • Director, Healthcare Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School.

Harvard Business School

Amitabh Chandra is the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy and Director of Health Policy Research at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is a member of the Congressional Budget Office''s (CBO) Panel of Health Advisors, and is a Research Associate at the IZA Institute in Bonn, Germany and at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). His research focuses on productivity and cost-growth in healthcare, medical malpractice, and racial disparities in healthcare.
His research has been has been published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Health Affairs.

Chandra has testified to the United States Senate and the United States Commission on Civil Rights. His research has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, Newsweek, and on National Public Radio. In 2011 he served as Massachusetts'' Special Commissioner on Provider Price Reform. In 2013, he founded Health Engine, a company that reduces the price of healthcare.

Professor Chandra is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine, the first-prize recipient of the Upjohn Institute''s Dissertation Award, the Kenneth Arrow Award for best paper in health economics, and the Eugene Garfield Award for the impact of medical research. In 2012, he was awarded American Society of Health Economists (ASHE) medal. The ASHE Medal is awarded biennially to the economist age 40 or under who has made the most significant contributions to the field of health economics.

At HBS, Professor Chandra is teaching in the MD/MBA programs as well as in the Executive Education Programs.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "What Values and Priorities Mean for Health Reform." New England Journal of Medicine 383, no. 15 (October 8, 2020).
  • Grischkan, Justin A., Ari B. Friedman, and Amitabh Chandra. "Moving the Financing of Graduate Medical Education Into the 21st Century." JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association 324, no. 11 (September 15, 2020).
  • Pian, Julia, Amitabh Chandra, and Ariel Dora Stern. "The Past, Present, and (Near) Future of Gene Therapy and Gene Editing." (pdf) NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery 1, no. 5 (September–October 2020).
  • Baicker, Katherine, and Amitabh Chandra. "Do We Spend Too Much on Health Care?" New England Journal of Medicine 383, no. 7 (August 13, 2020): 605–608.
  • Kakani, Pragya, Amitabh Chandra, and Sendhil Mullainathan. "Allocation of COVID-19 Relief Funding to Disproportionately Black Counties." JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association 324, no. 10 (September 8, 2020): 1000–1003.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Douglas O. Staiger. "Identifying Sources of Inefficiency in Health Care." Quarterly Journal of Economics 135, no. 2 (May 2020): 785–843.
  • McCormack, Grace, Christopher Avery, Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer, and Amitabh Chandra. "Economic Vulnerability of Households with Essential Workers." JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association 324, no. 4 (July 28, 2020): 388–390.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Mark Fishman, and Douglas Melton. "A Detailed Plan for Getting Americans Back to Work." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (April 1, 2020).
  • Chandra, Amitabh. "Scale the Price for a Coronavirus Vaccine by the Harm it Averts." Boston Globe (March 13, 2020).
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Craig Garthwaite. "Economic Principles for Medicare Reform." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 686, no. 1 (November 2019): 63 – 92.
  • Bagley, Nicholas, Amitabh Chandra, Craig Garthwaite, and Ariel Dora Stern. "It's Time to Reform the Orphan Drug Act." NEJM Catalyst (December 19, 2018).
  • Schupbach, John, Amitabh Chandra, and Robert S. Huckman. "A Simple Way to Measure Health Care Outcomes." Harvard Business Review (website) (December 8, 2016).
  • Stern, Ariel Dora, Brian M. Alexander, and Amitabh Chandra. "Innovation Incentives and Biomarkers." Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics 103, no. 1 (January 2018): 34–36.
  • Stern, Ariel Dora, Brian M. Alexander, and Amitabh Chandra. "How Economics Can Shape Precision Medicines." Science 355, no. 6330 (March 17, 2017): 1131–1133.

BOOK CHAPTERS

  • Chandra, Amitabh, Craig Garthwaite, and Ariel Dora Stern. "Characterizing the Drug Development Pipeline for Precision Medicines." Chap. 5 in Economic Dimensions of Personalized and Precision Medicine, edited by Ernest R. Berndt, Dana P. Goldman, and John W. Rowe, 115–158. University of Chicago Press, 2019.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Benjamin Handel, and Joshua Schwartzstein. "Behavioral Economics and Health-Care Markets." (pdf) Chap. 6 in Handbook of Behavioral Economics: Foundations and Applications 2, edited by B. Douglas Bernheim, Stefano DellaVigna, and David Laibson, 459–502. Amsterdam: Elsevier/North-Holland, 2019.
  • Bagley, Nicholas, Benjamin Berger, Amitabh Chandra, Craig Garthwaite, and Ariel Dora Stern. "The Orphan Drug Act at 35: Observations and an Outlook for the Twenty-First Century." Chap. 4 in Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 19, edited by Josh Lerner and Scott Stern, 97–137. University of Chicago Press, 2018.

WORKING PAPERS

  • Alsan, Marcella, Amitabh Chandra, and Kosali I. Simon. "The Great Unequalizer: Initial Health Effects of COVID-19 in the United States." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 28958, June 2021.
  • Berger, Benjamin, Amitabh Chandra, and Craig Garthwaite. "Regulatory Approval and Expanded Market Size." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 28889, June 2021.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Evan Flack, and Ziad Obermeyer. "The Health Costs of Cost-Sharing." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 28439, February 2021. View Details
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Pragya Kakani, and Adam Sacarny. "Hospital Allocation and Racial Disparities in Health Care." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 28018, November 2020.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Courtney Coile, and Corina Mommaerts. "What Can Economics Say About Alzheimer's Disease?" NBER Working Paper Series, No. 27760, August 2020.
  • Kakani, Pragya, Michael Chernew, and Amitabh Chandra. "Rebates in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Evidence from Medicines Sold in Retail Pharmacies in the U.S." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 26846, March 2020.

CASES AND TEACHING MATERIALS

  • Chandra, Amitabh, Spencer Lee-Rey, and Caroline Marra. "The SMA Foundation: Steering Therapeutic Research and Development in a Rare Disease." Harvard Business School Case 621-112, May 2021.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Spencer Lee-Rey. "Who Lives & Who Dies: Expanded Access for Experimental Drugs at Chimerix (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 621-111, June 2021.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Spencer Lee-Rey. "Who Lives & Who Dies: Expanded Access for Experimental Drugs at Chimerix (A)." Harvard Business School Case 621-110, June 2021.
  • Schwartzstein, Joshua, Amitabh Chandra, and Amram Migdal. "Value-Based Insurance Design at Onex." Harvard Business School Case 921-023, January 2021.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Matthew C. Weinzierl, Lisa Marrone, and Spencer Lee-Rey. "What Will Best Serve Humanity? Accelerating Uses for CRISPR at the Broad Institute." Harvard Business School Case 721-018, October 2020. (Revised June 2021.)
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Sofia Guerra. "Pricing the Priceless: Covering Transformational Medicines at Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan." Harvard Business School Case 621-059, September 2020. (Revised February 2021.) View Details
  • Gompers, Paul A., Amitabh Chandra, and Matthew Wozny. "Ginkgo Bioworks: The Cell as a Factory." Harvard Business School Case 220-069, April 2020. View Details
  • Chandra, Amitabh, and Ariel Dora Stern. "Technical Note on Bayesian Statistics and Frequentist Power Calculations." Harvard Business School Technical Note 620-032, December 2019.
  • Chandra, Amitabh, Spencer Lee-Rey, and Douglas Melton. "CRISPR and the Ethics of Germline Editing." Harvard Business School Case 620-101, February 2020. (Revised June 2021.)
  • Pisano, Gary P., William J. Anderson, Amitabh Chandra, Clarissa Ceruti, and Stephanie Oestreich. "The Life Sciences Revolution: A Technical Primer." Harvard Business School Technical Note 620-054, November 2019. (Revised April 2020.)

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