Modelling facility location problems in emerging markets: The case of the public healthcare sector in Morocco

Abstract

Locating facilities in an emerging market involves specific characteristics that are different from developed countries. The differences between these two settings suggest that facility location modelling can present substantially different challenges when applied to an emerging market as opposed to a developed country. In this study, we develop a variant of the set covering model that explicitly takes specific characteristics into consideration. The model has been constructed and validated based on a real-life case study concerning the Moroccan Ministry of Health which is currently considering the redesign of its supply chain of pharmaceutical products. Amongst the findings, this paper shows that road infrastructure and demand dispersion affect the strategic decision of facility locations.