LIST OF PANELS

General Objectives

Innovation policy plays a key role in shaping governmental actions during crises (Gross & Sampat, 2022), and it must often become more flexible to accommodate rapidly changing conditions (Fonseca et al., 2023; Lai, 2018). In this context, this panel will explore the role of regulation and public innovation within health systems during crises and their aftermath, not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but also neglected diseases like dengue, Zika, and Ebola. It will also discuss the role of regulation in the contexts of war and natural disasters, when healthcare systems face immense strain and require swift innovation to ensure continued care.

Recognizing that public health innovation encompasses both incremental and radical responses, this panel seeks to examine how these approaches impact regulatory frameworks. Many regulatory approaches may require a degree of 'overdesign' to enhance their effectiveness, thus ensuring that health systems can adjust and respond flexibly to unforeseen challenges (Béland et al., 2020; Howlett et al., 2015). The panel will then examine how these adjustments may enhance or diminish health outcomes. Understanding these dynamics is essential for informing future crisis preparedness and fostering innovative capacity, enabling systems to better withstand and recover from disruptions while continuing to provide essential care.

A key focus of this panel will be the roles of regulatory agencies (IRAs) alongside a diverse range of stakeholders involved in innovative health regulatory systems, such as politicians, scientific experts, healthcare providers, private companies—including the pharmacy industry—and community organizations. By examining the regulatory frameworks during and after health crises, the panel aims to uncover the factors that enable effective regulatory innovation and foster institutional responses. Additionally, it seeks to understand how innovation can serve as a pivotal tool in influencing public health and safety standards while shaping public policies.

This panel is on site and is interested in the following general research questions:

1.     How have regulatory frameworks and regulatory agencies (IRAs) innovated in response to health crises?

2.     How have rapid regulatory innovations enhanced flexibility in healthcare systems, and what global lessons can be learned to improve future health outcomes?

3.     How do political-economic factors and state capabilities influence health policy changes and stakeholder dynamics during crises and normal times?

4.     How do new and existing actors, including public-private collaborations, influence regulatory responses? What are the risks of regulatory capture during health crises?

 
Scientific Relevance
This panel seeks to examine how health systems regulation and innovation evolve during and after health crises in global, regional, and local contexts. By analyzing the interactions between crises, regulatory frameworks, and health policy innovation, it aims to contribute to academic discussions on health policy and provide insights for improving preparedness and response strategies for current and future challenges.

Health policy, regulation, and innovation play a pivotal role in establishing the framework for public health and safety, thereby influencing the functioning of health systems. Analyzing how crises and their subsequent effects impact these regulations not only enables the identification of effective strategies for addressing future challenges but also contributes to a deeper understanding of long-term adaptability within health systems. Moreover, as health systems increasingly rely on innovation, regulations must adapt to facilitate technological advancements and enhance policy designs while ensuring safety. Understanding these innovations is essential for comparing regulatory responses both across and within countries, and identifying common challenges to improve regulatory frameworks.

This panel encourages submissions from a diverse range of disciplines, including but not limited to public policy, health policy, political science, public administration, policy innovation, and social policy. We welcome empirical studies, theoretical analyses, case studies, and comparative research employing various methodologies that explore the dynamics of regulation and innovation in health policies both during health crises and in their aftermath. Contributions may focus on the following aspects:

1. The effectiveness of regulatory innovations in response to health crises and their aftermath.
2. The influence of innovation on regulatory practices and public health outcomes.
3. Comparative analyses of regulatory innovations across different countries.
The role of political economy and stakeholder interests in shaping regulatory responses.
4. The interplay between regulation and innovative public health policies.

Papers are encouraged to draw upon a diverse range of theoretical frameworks to analyze and explore the questions outlined. The following suggestions serve as guidelines rather than exhaustive criteria.

This call invites submissions of papers that employ theoretical frameworks to examine the policy capacities of institutional arrangements and the roles of actors within the regulatory process. The emphasis is on analyzing how structural attributes, resource endowments, and economic and political factors influence the effectiveness of regulatory frameworks and promote policy innovation in public health contexts, encompassing both crisis and non-crisis situations (Capano et al., 2020; Moon, 2020; Wu et al., 2015).

Furthermore, examining policy feedback effects may elucidate how historical experiences and outcomes shape current regulatory practices and inform future health innovations (Béland et al., 2022). Additionally, exploring policy-oriented learning within regulatory bodies highlights how these entities adapt in response to emerging technical information and scientific evidence (Donadelli, 2020; Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith, 1999; Zaki & Wayenberg, 2021).

While emphasis is placed on these frameworks, it is important to note that they are not exclusive, allowing for the incorporation of other relevant perspectives that may further enrich the analysis. By focusing on these elements, this panel aims to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between regulation, innovation, and health policy during crises.

References

Béland, D., Campbell, A. L., & Weaver, R. K. (2022). Policy Feedback: How Policies Shape Politics. Elements in Public Policy.

Béland, D., Howlett, M., Rocco, P., & Waddan, A. (2020). Designing policy resilience: Lessons from the Affordable Care Act. Policy Sciences, 53(2), 269–289.

Capano, G., Howlett, M., Jarvis, D. S. L., Ramesh, M., & Goyal, N. (2020). Mobilizing Policy (In)Capacity to Fight COVID-19: Understanding Variations in State Responses. Policy and Society, 39(3), 285–308.

Donadelli, F. (2020). When evidence does not matter: The barriers to learning from science in two cases of environmental policy change in Brazil. Science and Public Policy, 47(3), 313–321.

Fonseca, E. M. da, Shadlen, K. C., & Achcar, H. de M. (2023). Vaccine technology transfer in a global health crisis: Actors, capabilities, and institutions. Research Policy, 52(4).

Gross, D. P., & Sampat, B. N. (2023). The World War II crisis innovation model: What was it, and where does it apply? Research Policy, 52(9).

Howlett, M., Ramesh, M., & Wu, X. (2015). Understanding the persistence of policy failures: The role of politics, governance and uncertainty. Public Policy and Administration, 30(3–4), 209–220.

Lai, A. (2018). Agility amid uncertainties: Evidence from 2009 A/H1N1 pandemics in Singapore and Taiwan. Policy and Society, 37, 1–14.

Moon, M. J. (2020). Fighting COVID-19 with Agility, Transparency, and Participation: Wicked Policy Problems and New Governance Challenges. Public Administration Review, 80(4), 651–656.

Sabatier P. A., Jenkins-Smith H. C. (1999). ‘The Advocacy Coalition Framework: An Assessment’. In: Sabatier P. A. (ed.) Theories of the Policy Process, 1st ed., pp. 117–166. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Wu, X., Ramesh, M., & Howlett, M. (2015). Policy capacity: A conceptual framework for understanding policy competences and capabilities. Policy and Society, 34(3), 165–171.

Zaki, B. L., & Wayenberg, E. (2021). Shopping in the scientific marketplace: COVID-19 through a policy learning lens. Policy Design and Practice, 4(1), 15-32.