Rapidly increasing resistance, therefore, represents the sub-optimal rate of extraction of a scarce resource. Researchers at RFF are conducting analyses that will establish a better understanding of how bacterial resistance to antibiotics evolves and will quantify, to the extent possible, the social costs of inappropriate antibiotic use. These studies will help determine optimal rules for infectious disease treatments when the role of resistance is more carefully considered. They will also recommend policy measures that provide incentives for physicians and patients to internalize the social costs of resistance in their decision-making processes. Although RFF's research focuses specifically on the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, the general problem of resistance is a widespread one.
Malarial parasites can develop resistance to anti-malarial drugs and pests to pesticides.
A broad objective of this work is to develop a general analytical framework to study the problem of resistance.