The Economics of Organ Donation

The March 23, 2007, issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education has several articles on proposed solutions to the shortage of donor organs for transplantation.  The use of "spare" kidneys from living donors has increased but is nowhere near meeting demand.  One possible barrier to more transplants from living donors is that the donor is not compensated and in fact bears the cost of any ongoing health problems from the surgery.  The idea of arranging for some time of payment has generated interest among economics and surgeons. 

Posted by Robin Gault