Beijer Discussion Paper 277: Financial dimensions of global zoonotic disease risks

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases with pandemic potential (EID) such as COVID-19 and avian influenza, pose serious threats to human health and wellbeing all over the world. The emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic diseases are affected by a number of interacting social, environmental and ecological changes. The financial sector plays an important, yet often ignored role as owners and investors in industries linked to anthropogenic changes in ecosystems associated with increased zoonotic disease risks. This discussion paper explores the connections between financial institutions, their investments through equity, and increased zoonotic disease risks in nine selected regional case studies in the world. Our analysis includes 54 companies operating in sectors associated with EID risks in the selected regions, with over 3,290 associated Global Universal Owners. Our results shows that U.S. based asset managers (Vanguard, State Street, BlackRock and T. Rowe Price) are the largest owners in terms of total equity size with ownership volumes ranging from $0,5 to $2 billion USD. The specific patterns of cross-national ownership however, depend on the case study region of interest, thus making not only global but also regional investors central. Our network analysis of company and investor headquarters show that the governments of Norway and France are particularly influential. North America, and European countries together with China, Australia, Argentina and Brazil form the largest community in the global investor and corporate network. 

Read article