Gary Becker - Organ Markets

Organ Markets

An article by Gary Becker and Julio Elias on "Introducing Incentives in the market for Live and Cadaveric Organ Donations" said that a free market could help solve the problem of a scarcity in organ transplants. Their economic modeling was able to estimate the price tag for human kidneys ($15,000) and human livers ($32,000). It is argued by critics that this particular market would exploit the underprivileged donors from the developing world. This view was endorsed by the National Kidney Foundation in a testimony to the US Congress where Dr Francis Delmonico argued that "a US congressional endorsement for payment would propel other countries to sanction unethical and unjust standards...." Another concern is that if a market for organ donations were introduced, then organs would often go to the patients most able to afford them rather than patients who may have more need for them medically.

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