Innovative Finance for Development? Vaccine Bonds and the Hidden Costs of Financialization

IF 7.2 1区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Economic Geography Pub Date : 2022-03-15 DOI:10.1080/00130095.2021.2020090

Sarah Hughes-McLure, E. Mawdsley

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引用次数: 5

Abstract

Abstract Innovative finance is now considered essential to mobilize the trillions projected as required to meet the sustainable development goals. The International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), which issues vaccine bonds, is an emblematic example of innovative finance in global health and development. Since its launch in 2006, IFFIm has played a leading role in developing social bonds and funding global health, securing over $8 billion in donor commitments, and disbursing over $3 billion to date to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Adopting a follow the money approach, we set out a significant, evidence-based challenge to some of the dominant development claims around innovative development finance more widely and IFFIm in particular. We find evidence of nontrivial private profit making, hiding in plain sight, at the expense of beneficiaries and donors. Through advanced critical financial analysis, we reveal precisely who benefits and by how much. Furthermore, our analysis shows in detail how financialization reduces political control over aid, and the uneven spatial distribution of material rewards and political power. While IFFIm delivers on its claim to front-load aid commitments and makes a significant contribution to global health, the article asks whether the economic and political costs of innovative financing mechanisms are worth it. We finish by showing that alternative models for vaccine finance are possible. A postscript provides a brief account of how IFFIm has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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创新发展融资?疫苗债券和金融化的隐性成本

摘要创新金融现在被认为是调动实现可持续发展目标所需的数万亿资金的关键。发行疫苗债券的国际免疫融资机制（IFFIm）是全球卫生和发展创新融资的一个象征性例子。自2006年启动以来，IFFIm在发展社会债券和资助全球卫生方面发挥了主导作用，获得了超过80亿美元的捐助者承诺，迄今已向疫苗联盟Gavi支付了超过30亿美元。我们采用了跟随资金的方法，对更广泛的创新发展融资，特别是IFFIm的一些主要发展主张提出了一个重大的、基于证据的挑战。我们发现了以受益人和捐赠者为代价，隐藏在众目睽睽之下的非寻常私人牟利的证据。通过先进的批判性财务分析，我们可以准确地揭示谁受益以及受益多少。此外，我们的分析详细显示了金融化如何减少对援助的政治控制，以及物质奖励和政治权力的不均衡空间分布。尽管IFFIm兑现了其前期援助承诺，并为全球卫生做出了重大贡献，但文章询问创新融资机制的经济和政治成本是否值得。最后，我们展示了疫苗融资的替代模式是可能的。附言简要介绍了IFFIm如何应对新冠肺炎大流行。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Economic Geography Multiple-

CiteScore

9.70

自引率

2.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Economic Geography is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing original research that advances the field of economic geography. Their goal is to publish high-quality studies that are both theoretically robust and grounded in empirical evidence, contributing to our understanding of the geographic factors and consequences of economic processes. It welcome submissions on a wide range of topics that provide primary evidence for significant theoretical interventions, offering key insights into important economic, social, development, and environmental issues. To ensure the highest quality publications, all submissions undergo a rigorous peer-review process with at least three external referees and an editor. Economic Geography has been owned by Clark University since 1925 and plays a central role in supporting the global activities of the field, providing publications and other forms of scholarly support. The journal is published five times a year in January, March, June, August, and November.