Experts and Financial Ties: Evidence from FDA Advisory Committees

The use of expert committees is common in many settings. A key concern is the potential for conflict-of-interest, particularly for members of committees that oversee regulated firms. However, ties to industry may be correlated with expertise. We examine the voting behavior of members of the Food & Drug Administration’s Advisory Committees, which make recommendations on new drug applications and other regulatory questions. We estimate a structural model of voting that allows us to recover each member’s skill and bias associated with financial ties to a drug’s sponsor or its competitors. Our work exploits a novel dataset that includes detailed information on each AC member, including their academic degrees, age, areas of expertise, and scientific contributions. We construct a measure of financial ties to industry using information disclosed in scientific publications authored by AC members, as well as those reported directly to the FDA and by the industry under the Sunshine Act. Finally, we consider the welfare effects of changes to conflict-of-interest policies.