The economic geography of global health: insights from pharmaceuticals and other medical goods

Rory Horner

Chapter 8 in A Research Agenda for Economic Geography, 2025, pp 105-118 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter demonstrates how economic geography matters for global health. Evidence is drawn from the provision of medicines, vaccines, and personal protective equipment, all highly sought after for their potential to ameliorate the effects of, protect against infection by, and prevent the spread of COVID-19. While the production of such products was globalized in recent decades, the COVID-19 pandemic amplified pre-existing concerns in many parts of the world about reliance on imported supply. Many policymakers are now prioritizing enhancing local production of key medical goods. While development within global production networks has been a major research focus in economic geography and related fields, brief contours of an emerging agenda on local production are outlined. The relevance of this agenda to research on other so-called “critical” industries – beyond medical goods – is also outlined amidst a tense and unpredictable global economy where nationalism is resurgent. The chapter concludes that attention to the economic geographies of global health should form part of a wider emphasis on addressing global development challenges in the field of economic geography.

Keywords: Health; Pharmaceuticals; Medical goods; Global production networks; Globalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035339914
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