The price of mistrust: the impact of a medical ethics scandal on scientific capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa

Caroline Fry and Shannon Tran

Industry and Innovation, 2025, vol. 32, issue 4, 476-499

Abstract: This study investigates how negative news alleging ethical misconduct in clinical trials can hinder scientific development in emerging economies. We examine a 2000 exposé surrounding a clinical trial conducted in Northern Nigeria, leading to decades of community mistrust in foreign pharmaceutical companies. By comparing scientific output of researchers in affected and less affected regions, we find a significant decline in publication growth, particularly for medical researchers. An exploration of the mechanisms suggests that eroded community support and participation in research and reduced international collaboration contributed to this slowdown. This study highlights the importance of the science-community relationship in fostering scientific development. Our findings imply that a ’social li- cense to operate’ grounded in community trust is essential for scientific progress, and that future research on the determinants of scientific capacity in developing countries should consider community attitudes and involvement.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13662716.2024.2421933 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:indinn:v:32:y:2025:i:4:p:476-499

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CIAI20

DOI: 10.1080/13662716.2024.2421933

Access Statistics for this article

Industry and Innovation is currently edited by Associate Professor Mark Lorenzen

More articles in Industry and Innovation from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().