Author (Year) | Scope/inclusion criteria (search date range) | Number of studies identified* | Relevant conclusions regarding existing literature |
---|---|---|---|
Breman & Shelton (2007) [17] | Structural adjustment programs (SAPs) and health outcomes; emphasis on empirical analyses (dates not specified) | 76 | - Three main policies of SAPs have been the focus of this literature: reduced government expenditures, liberalized markets, and exchange rate devaluation - “Overwhelming majority” of studies portray the impacts of SAPs on health as negative, but among strictly empirical studies, approximately even split between findings of positive, negative, and neutral impacts |
Young, et al. (2009) [66] | Globalization and co-morbidity between infectious and chronic disease (1950 – end date not specified) | Not specified | - This review technically met our inclusion criteria but the globalization aspect was very minor in the results/discussion |
Loewenson, et al. (2010) [19] | Globalization and nutritional outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa (1990–2009) | 199 | - Limited empirical work in Africa - Need for more research on gender dimensions of globalization and health |
Friel, et al. (2013) [18] | Studies that developed approaches, methods, or indicators to monitor impacts of trade agreements on food environments from an obesity/NCD perspective; examined impacts of trade agreements on food chains and the food environment; or conceptualized links between trade liberalization and food environments (1990 – January 2013) | 9 | - “No studies were identified which used methods or indicators to systematically monitor trade agreements through an obesity/NCD lens” - Proposes potential indicators and food categories for monitoring the impacts of trade agreements on national food systems and food environments |
Baker, et al. (2014) [67] | Trade liberalization, non-communicable diseases, and risk factors in Asia (dates not specified) | Not specified | - Understanding of the mechanisms linking transnational corporations and increased consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy foods and beverages “appear to be theoretically and empirically underdeveloped in the public health literature” |
Burns, et al. (2016) [13] | Quantitative studies investigating the relationship between international trade or foreign direct investment, and non-nutritional population health outcomes (until end of 2014) | 16 | - Current evidence on FDI as determinant and consequence of health is unclear; more research needed - Sample stratification may critically affect the estimated relationship between trade and health in international panel studies (e.g., nature of goods imported/exported, industry of international investments, position in global supply chain) - Important to consider mutual association when analyzing trade or FDI and health; adjustments for reverse causality were “typically crude” or absent - Surprisingly limited use of individual-level data |
Barlow, et al. (2017) [22] | Quantitative studies of the health impacts of trade and investment agreements or policy. (1960 – January 2016) | 17 | - “Trade and investment measures varied in specificity” - Studies with stronger methodological designs most often used trade indicators with weak specificity - Mechanisms mediating links were seldom explored - Strong reliance on country-level data precludes exploration of social groups where effects are concentrated |
McNamara (2017) [16] | Studies explicating a clear analytical framework for conceptualizing pathways between trade liberalization and health (until end of 2015) | 43 | - “Many authors include financial flows and foreign investment within conceptualizations of trade liberalization” - “Trade liberalization itself is seldom explicitly defined in frameworks” |