In her latest article, Prof Smita Srinivas, economic development expert and Innogen member, presents an institutional theory framework to inform the assessment of fast-moving pandemic evidence. She argues that essential features of how some countries and industries adapted during the pandemic have been missed.
Institutions are a crucial feature of economics analysis and define the nature of every industry, ranging from customs and norms to technical standards, regulations and other laws. However, industrial policies, such as rules of competition and procurement norms, bundle institutions together. Every country and industry has a unique ‘Institutional Variety’ bundle. During the COVID-19 pandemic, two contrasting health-industry cases in India (Oxygen and Ayurveda) experienced high demand, but also high uncertainty. Understanding the adaptation and resilience of these industries under the pandemic’s compressed response timelines will help design sustainable industrial policies.
“The idea is to build theoretical clarity and very practical ‘sustainable’ industrial policies. Better future health is impossible without understanding its shaky industrial foundations and some glaring confusions on health goals and metrics. In several expert meetings worldwide, I was alarmed to see how little attention is focused on the industrial contradictions of the health delivery challenge and the existing technological capabilities that differentiate country economies. These gaps lead to well-intended ‘access’ efforts, but contradictory industrial and health policy efforts that undermine future health and healthcare. With Innogen colleagues, we also published on the UK experience and I look forward to more testing and refining of this Institutional Variety framework with them.” Srinivas says.
Further reading:
Srinivas, S. When is industry ‘sustainable’? The economics of institutional variety in a pandemic. Rev Evol Polit Econ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43253-023-00093-y
Watkins, A. S. Srinivas and D. Wield (2022). Emergency driven capacity building: COVID-19 and the UK’s response toward increasing critical testing capability and production of PPE, IKD Working Paper 91, The Open University.
Srinivas, S. (2021) Industrial Policies for Health: The G20 Must Act Now, The International Spectator 21(40), IAI.