Public Health and Political Corporate Social Responsibility: Pharmaceutical Company Engagement in COVAX

Markus Scholz*, Craig Smith, Maria Riegler, Anna Burton

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Pharmaceutical companies developed Covid-19 vaccines in record time. However, it soon became apparent that global access to the vaccines was inequitable. Through a qualitative inquiry as the pandemic unfolded (to mid-2021), we provide an in-depth analysis of why companies engaged with the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX), identifying the internal (to the company) and external factors that facilitated or impeded engagement. While all producers of WHO-approved vaccines engaged with COVAX, our analysis highlights the differential levels of COVAX engagement and identifies contractual obligations, opportunities and company strategy, and reputational pressures as key explanatory factors. We discuss our empirical findings relative to the literature on Political Corporate Social Responsibility (PCSR). Accordingly, we question whether pharmaceutical companies lived up to their responsibilities as corporate citizens and conclude that they failed to fulfil the implied responsibility of combatting inequitable vaccine distribution. We conclude with implications of our research for practice, in relation to the challenges of global access to Covid-19 vaccines and for access to medicines more generally.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages38
JournalBusiness & Society
Early online date13 Apr 2023
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 13 Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was partly funded by the Christian Doppler Forschungsgesellschaft in the context of the Josef Ressel Centre for Collective Action and Responsible Partnerships.

Keywords

  • political corporate social responsibility
  • access to medicine
  • multi-stakeholder partnerships
  • covid-19 pandemic
  • COVAX

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