The world is transitioning out of the crisis phase of the COVID-19 outbreak, aided by immunity from vaccination and prior infection. Multilateral institutions, including the African Union, COVAX, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank, were indispensable in the crisis response, delivering life-saving vaccines, technical assistance, and concessional finance to low- and middle-income countries. Yet, these institutions have been criticized, with arguments that their response was insufficient given the overwhelming need. Drawing on economic analysis conducted throughout
the pandemic, World Bank economist Tristan Reed will assess the merit of this criticism, highlighting successes, misunderstandings, and lessons learned about how multilateral institutions can more effectively respond to future public health emergencies of international concern.
Tristan Reed is an economist for the World Bank's Development Research Group, working on topics in public policy and industrial organization relevant to low- and middle-income economies. Alongside research, he advises infrastructure and development policy lending operations, and supports the multilateral effort to vaccinate the world against COVID-19. Prior to joining the Bank, Tristan Reed served banking and public sector clients as a McKinsey & Company associate in their Lagos, Nigeria office. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and a B.A. summa cum laude from UCLA.
Michael Kent Ranson has been a Senior Economist (Health), based in the World Bank office in Geneva, since 2014. He is the World Bank’s focal point for engagement with Gavi and COVAX, and has served as Gavi Board Alternate, and on the Gavi Programme and Policy Committee, since 2018. He is part of the team that developed a new mechanism that allows countries to use World Bank financing to purchase COVID-19 vaccines, beyond the fully donor-subsidised doses they are already receiving, through COVAX. He is co-chair of the Immunization Agenda 2030 Financial Sustainability working group.
Deon Filmer is Director of the Development Research Group at the World Bank. He has previously served as Acting Research Manager in the Research Group, Co-Director of the World Development Report 2018: Learning to Realize Education’s Promise, and Lead Economist in the Human Development department of the Africa Region of the World Bank. He works on issues of human capital and skills, service delivery, and the impact of policies and programs to improve human development outcomes—with research spanning the areas of education, health, social protection, and poverty and inequality. He has published widely in refereed journals, including studies of the impact of demand-side programs on schooling and learning; the roles of poverty, gender, orphanhood, and disability in explaining education inequalities; and the determinants of effective service delivery.
The monthly Policy Research Talks showcase the latest findings of the World Bank’s research department, challenge and contribute to the institution’s intellectual climate, and re-examine conventional wisdom in current development theories and practice. These talks facilitate a dialogue between researchers and operational staff and inform World Bank operations both globally and within partner countries. Read More »
