Network embeddedness in the internationalization of biotechnology entrepreneurs

This study investigates how entrepreneurs of biotech enterprises embed in domestic and international networks so as to internationalize. We advance a contextual framework of embeddedness of internationalizing entrepreneurs, providing a contribution (i) by synthesizing and applying existing conceptual insights from the networking literature to provide a more culturally sensitive view of getting embedded for international entrepreneurship in the biotech industry and (ii) by adding insights into the practices and (micro)processes of how and in what ways embeddedness integrates with the internationalization of biotech entrepreneurs. Our study involves six entrepreneurs from Canada, Finland, and New Zealand. Context-specific embeddedness was studied by exploring the (i) type, (ii) strength, (iii) locality, and (iv) importance of the international and national network ties among internationalizing entrepreneurs. We found differences in relation to the locality of universities and research institutes, role and type of financiers, and customer focus in internationalization. For instance, while customers were central to the embeddedness of Canadian and New Zealand entrepreneurs, Finnish entrepreneurs had no focus on their customers, but acted solely through sales channels and partners. The customer focus of New Zealand entrepreneurs was mainly international, whereas it was domestic in the case of Canadian entrepreneurs.     

The Evolving Structure of Chinese R&D Funding and its Implications for the Productivity of Agricultural Biotechnology Research

China’s research and development (R&D) policy has changed considerably over recent decades, and great changes occurred in 2006 when the main programme objective of China’s R&D changed from the 863 Programme and 973 Programme to the National Science and Technology Major Project. One topic that has drawn extensive attention is whether the investment reform improved R&D productivity in China. Using a unique panel dataset from 160 universities, this paper examines the effect of the investment reform on productivity improvement in China’s agricultural biotechnology sector. We use a panel count data model with a dynamic feedback mechanism to model the knowledge production process. Strong evidence indicates that the investment reform greatly contributes to knowledge output production in China’s agricultural biotechnology sector. We also find that the input quality is more important than the absolute quantity; human research capacity exhibits the greatest contribution to the output of patents; past knowledge accumulation helps produce more patents; and entry barriers to patent production exist in China’s agricultural biotechnology sector. Moreover, the patent explosion in China may have been largely caused by improvements in the human capital input quality.     

How technological innovation affects the structure of an industry: entrepreneurship evolution in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry since 1980

Challenges faced by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, including reduced R&D productivity and the expiration of drugs that are high in demand, are recently being addressed through technological innovation. Such innovations are highly likely to change the structure and functioning of the industry. Since 2000, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have actively made strategic alliance, and technological innovations have changed the source of innovation from R&D to entrepreneurship within the industry. In this study, we identify the evolution of entrepreneurship and discuss the changes caused by technological advancements since 1980 by analysing patterns of exporting and acquiring technology data from Medtrack. Over difference period, biopharmaceutical firms have gained new knowledge and improved technology, and have implemented this newly acquired knowledge and innovation to introduce drugs to the market.     

生物技术创新对世界农产品贸易的影响及我国的对策研究

本文分析了世界各主要国家在生物技术管理方面的政策差异及其原因,分析了生物技术创新对世界农产品贸易的各种潜在和现实的影响,并对未来转基因农产品贸易的形势进行了初步的预测和判断。在此基础上,从短期和长期两个方面提出了今后我国生物技术发展和转基因农产品贸易的政策建议。     

Open Variety Rights: Rethinking the Commodification of Plants

Open Variety Rights refer to the removal of the conditions attached to the usage of plants in agriculture, and to an analogy with open licensing in informatics that is notably different from the one that is taking shape at the intersection of the life sciences and informatics. This paper argues for the open licensing of plants as part of a response to the commodification of DNA; rather than a singular focus on farming or source code, this implies an analogy that aims at the removal of restrictions, whether as seeds, biodiversity, genetic sequences or DNA in informatics formats. First, the commodification of plants will be conceptualized. Second, the proposal for open licensing for varieties of crops will be discussed. Third, examples of the introduction of open licensing in the life sciences will be examined in relation to the potential to reformulate the definition of ‘openness’ to support those who wish to live and work with plants on their own terms.     

现代生物技术在食品领域中的应用研究

现代生物学和分子生物学的发展,对基因工程、细胞工程、酶工程、发酵工程等现代生物技术工程产生重要影响,其在食品发酵生产中的应用越来越广。本文阐述了基因工程、细胞工程、酶工程等现代生物技术在食品发酵业的应用。     

What is sustainable agriculture? Empirical evidence of diverging views in Switzerland and New Zealand

Public debates on sustainable agriculture tend to be shaped by dominant political stakeholders with a particular political agenda. They simultaneously contribute and respond to the formation of public opinion. In this paper, we investigate to what extent stakeholder attitudes and interests help explain national conceptions of sustainable agriculture and how these conceptions diverge between countries with different agricultural policies.For that purpose, we conducted two stakeholder perception surveys in Switzerland and New Zealand. The data analysis revealed that there are significant differences in perception between the two countries. While Swiss respondents felt that Swiss agriculture is already quite sustainable and that international trade and new technologies are likely to render it less sustainable, New Zealand respondents generally thought that economic and technological change is necessary to make agriculture more sustainable. The conservative Swiss attitude is in accordance with the country's defensive agricultural policy while the more progressive New Zealand attitude is clearly linked to its need to reconcile agricultural sustainability with national competitiveness.     

法律视野下的中国生物产业政策研究

生物产业已成为当今经济发展的一个新的增长点，受到了各国的高度重视。生物产业影响力具有双刃性、广延性与多面性的特点，这使得生物产业发展的主要挑战不仅存在于经济、技术与伦理层面，而且更存在于政策与法律层面。我国的生物产业政策已经形成并实施，但尚存在看法律化不足的“泛政策化”问题。为推进我国生物产业政策的法律化，应当立足于法律的视野全面审视我国的生物产业政策。     

挪威国家生物库——世界级医学研究资料库

建立在生命科学、生物医学和生物信息学的快速发展基础上,生物库成为西方发达国家近些年来大力投资的基础科研设施,通过生物库收集到的人体材料(如血液、尿样等),科研人员开始利用现代医学技术,研究、利用人类遗传资源进行流行病的诊断和个性化治疗.挪威历经40年的实践,建立起了国家生物库,并在国际合作中占有突出地位.通过着重研究挪威生物库发展历程,分析其生物库的科研优势及面临的各种挑战,以期对我国医疗服务体系的发展提供有益借鉴.     

泰国生物燃料政策及其启示

为了减少对进口石油的依赖、为了实现减排承诺、为了发挥农业资源优势、增加农民收入，泰国皇室、文官和军人政府都致力于发展乙醇汽油和生物柴油，并倡导把泰国发展成东盟的乙醇贸易中心，把东盟发展成世界生物燃料贸易中心。本文梳理了泰国生物燃料发展政策并指出其经验和存在的问题，为今后制定合理的生物燃料政策提供了思路。