Researching Corporations and Global Health Governance: An Interdisciplinary Guide

The profound changes to the world economy since the late twentieth century have been characterised by a growth in the number and size of transnational corporations. In this context, there is now increasing evidence of unprecedented reversals in health indicators among populations around the world. Research in this area has focused on documenting the global health impacts arising from the economic activity of corporations. The challenge for public health researchers is to understand the ways in which corporations are regulated by, and participate in global health governance and implications for health and well-being across the globe. This book is an introductory guide to conducting research on the role of corporations in global health governance from a range of disciplinary perspectives and gives an overview of different approaches, methodologies and data sources. Also, for case studies providing interdisciplinary empirical analysis of the impact of corporations on global health and global health governance, see the partner volume: http://www.rowmaninternational.com/books/case-studies-on-corporations-and-global-health-governance

About the Author

Kelley Lee is Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance and Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, 50 book chapters and 14 books including Global Health and International Relations (2012), Asia’s Role in Governing Global Health (2012) and Transformations in Global Health Governance (2014). Dr. Benjamin Hawkins is a Lecturer in Global Health Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, teaching global health policy. His current research focuses on the role of research evidence and corporate actors in health policy making at the national and global levels and the impact in regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements on health. In particular his work focuses on the global alcohol and tobacco industries. Prior to entering academia he worked in sales and marketing for the alcohol producer Diageo.