POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF NEW TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

1
POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF NEW TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFER

• John H. Barton
• jbarton_at_stanford.edu

2
OVERALL CHANGES

• Significantly increased technological
  sophistication in developing world e.g. Brazil,
  China, India, Thailand
• Globalization of world economy
• Export orientation rather than import
  substitution
• Off-shoring of R D
• New regulatory structure
• TRIPS
• Privatization and open capital markets

3
DOMINANT METHODS OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

• Global public sector gt developing nation public
  sector gt application (Cf. NIH in US)
• Traditional agriculture
• Some energy
• Global private sector gt developing nation
  private (or public/private) sector gt application
  (Cf computers in US)
• Transportation
• Electronics
• Pharmaceuticals

4
TWO ECONOMIC POINTS

• S T is not a zero-sum game
• My knowledge can contribute to yours
• S T advance becomes an accelerator of the
  benefits of free trade
• S T success often involves subsidies which
  are economically legitimate when responding to
• Market failure in appropriability of technology
• Steep learning curve even for efficient industry

5
OUTLINE OF ISSUES

• Education and human resources
• Public sector technology transfer
• Private sector technology transfer

6
HUMAN RESOURCES

• Central to both key mechanisms of technology
  transfer
• Developing country status far better than in past
• Human resource scientific system highly
  globalized (conferences, education, scientific
  community)

7
HUMAN RESOURCES PROBLEMS

• Funding of advanced education
• Failure to link education to private sector
• Visa restrictions
• Brain drain

8
HUMAN RESOURCES RESPONSES

• Support for education
• International clinical programs, particularly
  those providing business experience
• Visa access

9
PUBLIC TECHNOLOGY

• Economic support for subsidy
• Basic research risk of capture by scientific
  community
• Some applied research (agriculture, medicine, . .
  . )
• Developing nation tendency to copy patterns of
  NIH, NSF etc.
• Major programs in
• Agriculture successful but underfunded
• Medicine PPPs success to be seen
• Energy -- fall-off in global support

10
PUBLIC TECHNOLOGY PROBLEMS

• IP and Bayh-Dole
• Research tool patents open-source responses
• National security restrictions
• Inadequate funding

11
PUBLIC TECHNOLOGY RESPONSES

• Patent law and possible enforced licensing type
  issues
• Agriculture
• Research tools
• Global research inventory World Bank?
• Recognition of appropriate role for public sector
  subsidies
• Ways to minimize national security limitations
• Transnational access to research grants

12
PRIVATE TECHNOLOGY

• Limited private sector investment by developing
  nation firms
• Global increase in FDI in technology-based areas
• Off-shore research by multinationals
• Significant incentive changes with deregulation

13
PRIVATE TECHNOLOGY BARRIERS

• TRIPS and bilateral arrangements
• Access to technology licenses
• Political concerns with reverse engineering
• Trade and policy barriers to use of subsidies
• Absence of effective international antitrust law

14
PRIVATE TECHNOLOGY RESPONSES

• Standards for trade secrecy (employee
  obligations, reverse engineering)
• Ways to discourage overly-strong TRIPS
  agreements
• International antitrust arrangements
• Trade law arrangements to facilitate appropriate
  subsidies
• Special sector arrangements?

15
ISSUES FOR THE WORLD BANK AND DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNITIES

• Education
• Clinical programs
• Global research inventory
• Recognition of role of public sector subsidies in
  development

16
ISSUES FOR THE GENEVA COMMUNITY

• WIPO
• Patent law issues
• Trade secrecy issues
• WTO
• Discourage overly strong TRIPS
• Visa issues
• National security limitations
• Transnational access to research grants
• Trade law arrangements to facilitate subsidies
• Possible science/technology access agreement
• ???
• Patent/antitrust issues
• Sector arrangements as in pharmaceuticals

17
MY PRIORITIES FOR THE GENEVA AGENDA

• Short term
• Patent law reform (WIPO)
• Mechanisms for dealing with bilaterals (WTO Art
  XXIV or TPRM or WIPO?)
• Longer term
• Trade-law aspects of technology subsidies
  (Anti-dumping, countervailing duties) (WTO)
• International patent/antitrust (WTO?)
• Possible sector arrangement for pharmaceuticals
  (WHO?)

18
RESEARCH NEEDS

• Most relevant to Geneva agenda
• Studies of specific industries
• Evaluate trade law issues
• Evaluate patent/antitrust question
• Most relevant to a broader development agenda
• Studies of specific assistance programs
• Evaluation of government interventions to
  obtain/develop technology
• Regulation/deregulation and research incentives

19
THANK YOU!

• jbarton_at_stanford.edu