Kremer.

• Position: Economist - Brief Article

Kremer describes the economic rationale for committing in advance to purchase vaccines once they are developed. Historically, governments have stimulated vaccine research by paying for research inputs, for example through grants to researchers. While this approach remains appropriate for basic research, the development of the biotech industry increases the scope for encouraging the later, more applied stages of vaccine research through committing to buy vaccines. This has several advantages over paying for research inputs. First, it gives researchers strong financial incentives to focus on developing a marketable vaccine rather than pursuing other goals, such as publishing academic articles...