An Economists Perspective on the Value of a Kidney | EP 9

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It’s illegal to buy or sell a kidney in all countries, except Iran. But imagine if there was a waitlist of people waiting to donate a kidney, versus a waitlist of people waiting to receive a lifesaving transplant. Could this be possible if the government financially compensated kidney donors? What if we not only removed the disincentives to donate, but added an incentive? What is the financial worth of a kidney, and what would donors need to be paid to ensure they are not exploited? Why is it OK to sell sperm, eggs, blood products and skin, but not kidneys?

Frank McCormick is a monetary economist who has recently turned his attention to the severe shortage of organs for transplantation. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. He was a Senior Economist in the Division of International Finance at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington before becoming Vice President and Director of U.S. Economic and Financial Research at the Bank of America in San Francisco. After retiring, he taught economics at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, and the Graduate School of Management at the University of California at Davis.

While teaching, he became interested in the shortage of transplant kidneys, and, together with his co-authors, he has recently written six papers on the subject:

• A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Government Compensation of Kidney Donors
• Would Government Compensation of Living Kidney Donors Exploit the Poor? An Empirical Analysis
• The Terrible Toll of the Kidney Shortage
• Removing Disincentives to Kidney Donation: A Quantitative Analysis
• Reducing the Shortage of Transplant Kidneys: A Lost Opportunity for the US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
• The Government Can Save the Lives of more than 40,000 Kidney Failure Patients Each Year by Compensating Living Kidney Donors

Join us for this controversial episode that walks us through Frank’s research and decide for yourself whether kidney donors should be compensated for their kidney donation! Let us know what you think on our Facebook Page!

Additional Resources

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Iranian Kidney Exchange- L.A. Times article

National Kidney Donation Organization (info on how to donate while alive!)

Organ Donation Registry (sign up to donate your organs at death)

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