Formal and informal pharmaceutical economies in Third World countries: Synergetic, symbiotic or parasitical?

Informal economy functions without any formal social control for lack of a supervisory authority. Within a regulated locality the same activities would have an illegal character, but in that deviating situation those informal activities can thrive because the authorities do not intervene. Globalizat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Crime, law, and social change law, and social change, 2006-05, Vol.45 (4-5), p.361-372
Main Authors: Walle, Gudrun Vande, Ponsaers, Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Competition
Developing Countries
Economic activity
Economic growth
Economic impact
Exploitation
Free markets
Globalization
Impact analysis
Informal economy
Informal Sector
LDCs
Market economies
Market Economy
Medications
Medicine
Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmaceuticals
Planned economy
Regulation
Social Control
State regulation
Studies
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Summary:Informal economy functions without any formal social control for lack of a supervisory authority. Within a regulated locality the same activities would have an illegal character, but in that deviating situation those informal activities can thrive because the authorities do not intervene. Globalization of our western mixed market economy implies that also the aspect of government control takes on a global character. The fact that formal economies settle in places where an informal market is the rule leads to a combined action which, eventually, creates new market relations. In the present contribution we study the effects of a meeting between a formal & an informal market on the basis of a concrete case. An analysis of the market of medical products in Third World countries gives an idea of the new relations that arise when an informal market of natural medicines is confronted with a formal market of western medicines. We study both the situation in which there are no regulations & the situation in which the formal market is supported by economic regulations. This text illustrates how those situations can give rise to new opportunities for one group & to exploitation for another. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0925-4994
1573-0751
DOI:10.1007/s10611-006-9039-z