Infectious diseases pose a threat to national security, but also have an economic value through the pathogen sharing practices, which aim to prevent, or at least strenghten capacities of reaction in case of crises. The Ebola crisis proved how critical pathogen sharing is to controlling outbreaks and thus, how beneficial sharing can be. However, existing governing frameworks for this process have several shortcomings, are under strain, and are very complicated. Furthermore, there are emergent technologies that take away the incentives to share. 

The research questions guiding the analysis are as follows:

– How can pathogen- and benefit-sharing practices be measured, described and meaningfully assessed?

– What are the most important determinants of pathogen-sharing and non-sharing?  

– What specific global governance tools and instruments are likely to be most effective? 

The methodology envisaged to answer them includes both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Metrics will be developed for pathogen-sharing and they will be submitted to specialized focus groups for discussions and analysis. Two case studies of Ebola and Zika will be analyzed in depth. Hypotheses for policy will be developed and tested.