The double burden of maldistribution: a descriptive analysis of corporate wealth and income distribution in four unhealthy commodity industries

Wood, Benjamin; McCoy, David; Baker, Phil; Williams, Owain David; Sacks, Gary

doi:10.1080/09581596.2021.2019681

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Some articles also described corporate influences on global inequities, including the ‘downward pressure’ on working conditions via corporations’ use of low-wage havens [40,41,113,114], exploitation of the weaker regulatory structures of LMICs, the extraction of wealth from LMICs to HICs [108,114], and the identification of LMICs as ‘emerging markets’ by unhealthy commodity producers (e.g., tobacco) to replace declines in consumption in HICs [36,40,43,72,128].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Externalization of health harms, for example, through tax avoidance [1,36,38,40,41,43,48,62,65,72,86,[107][108][109], was another major topic of the included articles. In this way, corporations were reported to impose health harms onto populations (e.g., chronic disease) without paying for the full cost of these harms.…”

Section: Economic Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some cases, initiatives ostensibly undertaken to improve equity (i.e., efforts to diversify cannabis industry employment) were seen as self-serving attempts to advance industry interests (e.g., increase consumption) [27]. Some articles also described corporate influences on global inequities, including the 'downward pressure' on working conditions via corporations' use of low-wage havens [40,41,113,114], exploitation of the weaker regulatory structures of LMICs, the extraction of wealth from LMICs to HICs [108,114], and the identification of LMICs as 'emerging markets' by unhealthy commodity producers (e.g., tobacco) to replace declines in consumption in HICs [36,40,43,72,128].…”

Section: Disadvantaged Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Corporate activities that influence population health: A scoping review and qualitative synthesis to develop the HEALTH-CORP typology

Burgess,

Nyhan,

Freudenberg

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Introduction: The concept of the commercial determinants of health (CDH) is used to study the actions (and associated structures) of commercial entities that influence population health and health equity. The aim of this study was to develop a typology that describes the diverse set of activities through which corporations influence population health and health equity across industries. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of articles using CDH terms (n=116) that discuss corporate activities that can influence population health and health equity across 16 industries. We used the qualitative constant comparison method to build a typology called the Corporate Influences on Population Health (HEALTH-CORP) typology. Results: The HEALTH-CORP typology identifies 70 corporate activities that can influence health across industries and categorizes them into seven domains of corporate influence (e.g., political practices, employment practices). We present a model that situates these domains based on their proximity to health outcomes and identify five population groups (e.g., workers, local communities) to consider when evaluating corporate health impacts. Discussion: The HEALTH-CORP typology facilitates an understanding of the diverse set of corporate activities that can influence population health and the population groups affected by these activities. We discuss the utility of these contributions in terms of identifying interventions to address the CDH and advancing efforts to measure and monitor the CDH. We also leverage our findings to identify key gaps in CDH literature and suggest avenues for future research.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Economic Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Disadvantaged Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Corporate activities that influence population health: A scoping review and qualitative synthesis to develop the HEALTH-CORP typology

Burgess,

Nyhan,

Freudenberg

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is a major public health concern for various reasons. First, by virtue of the ways in which shareholder capital is distributed, the pursuit of 'maximising shareholder value' in this manner directly contributes to widening socio-economic inequalities, which, in turn, adversely influence many population health outcomes (Wood, McCoy, Baker, et al, 2021). Furthermore, that the 'central' UPF corporations appear to be prioritising the interests of their shareholders suggests that they have become increasingly structured and compelled to subjugate normative and moralistic arguments against deploying harmful strategies (e.g., systematic marketing of products in violation of national laws and international norms) to the short-term material argument in favour of deploying these strategies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behind the ‘creative destruction’ of human diets: An analysis of the structure and market dynamics of the ultra‐processed food manufacturing industry and implications for public health

Wood

Williams

Baker

et al. 2023

Journal of Agrarian Change

Self Cite

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A global transition towards diets increasingly dominated by ultra‐processed foods (UPFs) has occurred in recent decades to the detriment of public health and the environment. This study aimed to examine long‐term trends in the structure and market dynamics of the global UPF manufacturing industry as part of broader efforts to understand the drivers of this transition. Using diverse methods, metrics and data sources, we examined several dimensions (e.g., industry concentration and profitability) according to an adapted structure–conduct–performance model. We found that the global UPF manufacturing industry has evolved to become a major component of global food systems, with its longstanding dominant corporations becoming some of the system's largest accumulators of profit and distributors of capital. It follows that reversing the global UPF dietary transition will require structural and regulatory changes to ensure that population diets, and food systems more broadly, are not subordinated to the interests of powerful for‐profit business corporations.

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“…The utilization of political and discursive tactics to evade regulation, as observed in this case study, has been documented in previous studies of the alcohol industry [ 105 , 106 ]. The commercial determinants of health literature suggests that unhealthy commodity industries contribute to global health inequity, both between and within countries by externalising their harms to disadvantaged population groups and low and middle-income countries to maximise profits for the wealthy minority [ 20 , 107 ]. This case study provides a unique example from within a high-income country where the alcohol industry’s harms would be externalised to the Aboriginal community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘A recipe for cultural disaster!’– a case study of Woolworths Group’s proposal to build an alcohol megastore in Darwin, Northern Territory

et al. 2023

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Background The health and wellbeing impacts of commercial activity on Indigenous populations is an emerging field of research. The alcohol industry is a key driver of health and social harms within Australia. In 2016 Woolworths, the largest food and beverage retailer in Australia, proposed to build a Dan Murphy’s alcohol megastore in Darwin, near three ‘dry’ Aboriginal communities. This study examines the tactics used by Woolworths to advance the Dan Murphy’s proposal and understand how civil society action can overcome powerful commercial interests to protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing. Methods Data from 11 interviews with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal informants were combined with data extracted from media articles and government, non-government and industry documents. Thematic analysis was informed by an adapted corporate health impact assessment framework. Results Woolworths employed several strategies including lobbying, political pressure, litigation, and divisive public rhetoric, while ignoring the evidence suggesting the store would increase alcohol-related harm. The advocacy campaign against the proposal highlighted the importance of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups working together to counter commercial interests and the need to champion Aboriginal leadership. Advocacy strategies included elevating the voices of community Elders in the media and corporate activism via Woolworths’ investors. Conclusions The strategies used by the coalition of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups may be useful in future advocacy campaigns to safeguard Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing from commercial interests.

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The double burden of maldistribution: a descriptive analysis of corporate wealth and income distribution in four unhealthy commodity industries

Cited by 15 publications

References 31 publications

Corporate activities that influence population health: A scoping review and qualitative synthesis to develop the HEALTH-CORP typology

Corporate activities that influence population health: A scoping review and qualitative synthesis to develop the HEALTH-CORP typology

Behind the ‘creative destruction’ of human diets: An analysis of the structure and market dynamics of the ultra‐processed food manufacturing industry and implications for public health

‘A recipe for cultural disaster!’– a case study of Woolworths Group’s proposal to build an alcohol megastore in Darwin, Northern Territory

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