Plant variety protection in developing countries. A report from the field

The establishment of intellectual property rights (IPRs) for plant varieties has caused considerable controversy, but there is relatively little empirical evidence on performance and options in developing countries. This paper summarizes the results of a recent five-country study, concentrating on the conduct of plant variety protection (PVP) regimes. It examines PVP in the context of other mechanisms that provide incentives for plant breeding. It discusses the principal options available to developing countries and examines the ability of PVP to offer protection from competing firms and from on-farm seed saving. It also looks at the administrative and management requirements of PVP regimes. Although the paper does not discuss patent protection for biotechnology it examines the IPR requirements for the introduction of transgenic varieties. Developing countries need to establish an appropriate PVP system, but PVP should be seen as part of a broader strategy for seed system development.     

Recent developments in intellectual property and power in the private sector related to food and agriculture

The legal protection of intellectual property (IP) has allowed private persons and enterprises to assert exclusive rights in relation to certain agricultural innovations. Whether through the protection of breeding innovations under plant variety rights protection laws or through the patenting of genes and gene fragments, the increasing involvement of IPRs in agriculture has effected a shift of agricultural research from public to private institutions. This article examines the changes in the international IP landscape which has facilitated these developments and looks at the impacts of modern IP developments upon agricultural research and farmers. It concludes with a consideration of IP liability issues arising from the development of GM agriculture.     

Institutional framework,corporate ownership structure,and R&D investment: an international analysis

We combine agency theory with the law and finance approach to analyze how the legal protection of investors and the corporate ownership structure affect corporate investment in research and development (R&D). We use information from 956 firms from the five most R&D-intensive industries in 19 developed countries. Our results show that better protection of investors’ rights by the institutional environment has a positive influence on corporate R&D. We also find that corporate ownership concentration works as a substitute for legal protection. This finding means that R&D investment of the firms in the countries with poor legal protection increases as ownership becomes more concentrated. Our results also show that the identity of shareholders has a relevant effect: Whereas banks and nonfinancial institutions as shareholders result in lower R&D, institutional investors as shareholders increase corporate investment in R&D.     

Plant breeders' rights and international agricultural research

Enactment of plant breeders' rights legislation has recently been a contentious political issue in several countries. An economic perspective to the issue is presented through consideration of the structure of the plant breeding and seed industries. A theoretical account is given of the probable economic effects of plant breeders' rights legislation in developing countries. Aspects which might be usefully considered when examining whether a particular developing country should enact plant breeders' rights legislation are also discussed. Finally, general issues faced by the international agricultural research centres with respect to plant breeders' rights are also outlined and some particular issues discussed.     

Strengthening intellectual property rights: Experience from the 1986 Taiwanese patent reforms

Do stronger intellectual property rights spur inventive activity and foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries? What are the characteristics of industries where strengthening patent rights has the most favorable impact? In an attempt to answer these questions, this paper uses the 1986 Taiwanese patent reforms to examine the effects of strengthening patent rights in a developing economy. I find that the reforms encouraged R&D effort across industries. In addition, industries that were highly R&D intensive witnessed a marked increase in their patenting in the United States. The reforms also induced additional FDI.     

Precursors of intellectual property rights enforcement in East and Southeast Asia

In this study we identify the main determinants of perceived strength of intellectual property rights in four developed (Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) and five emerging (China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand) Asian countries over the period 2003–2016. We use a panel model with additive unobserved individual-specific heterogeneity in a high-dimensional setting. The setting allows the number of time-varying regressors to exceed the sample size. Based on the Cluster–Lasso approach, we found that (1) bribery and corruption (inverse), equal opportunity, administration of justice, knowledge transfer, personal security and private property rights, and qualified engineers are significant determinants of intellectual property rights for developed countries; (2) adaptability of government policy, bribery and corruption (inverse), bureaucracy (inverse), and science in schools are significant determinants of intellectual property rights for emerging countries. Policy makers may use these results to strengthen IP rights and thus encourage indigenous innovation as well as foreign direct investment.     

知识产权对石油企业低碳发展的影响及启示

应对气候变化被认为是当前国际社会面临的紧迫挑战,国际公约确定的减排目标及有关减排制度给发展中国家带来了很大压力。通过联合国气候变化框架公约(UNFCCC)国际合作机制,推进低碳技术开发和转移,是发展中国家低碳经济取得快速发展的前提和基础。但知识产权保护对于控制了大部分低碳技术知识产权的发达国家来说,意味着财富的源泉,对于需要先进低碳技术进行减排的发展中国家而言却是致命的瓶颈。在此形势下,为保持和提高企业竞争力、加快低碳发展,中国石油企业除应加大自主研发力度、急起直追外,还需积极应对现有的知识产权制度,为获得低碳领域的先进技术创造条件。     

Host Country’s Intellectual Property Rights and Firm’s Equity Participation

There has been an important debate on whether the degree of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in a host country affects the choice of ownership structure of a transnational firm (TNF) for its affiliate. It is argued that a TNF’s equity participation in its affiliate is used to exert control and to protect its assets. Firms with greater equity ownership can control better the extent of the technology spillover, and thus compensate for weaker IPR protection in the host country, than can firms that do not have as large an equity participation in their affiliates. Using a unique data set of a newly developed country’s (South Korea) TNFs, this paper shows that there is a negative relationship between a host country’s standards of IPR protection and a TNF’s equity participation.      

Universal intellectual property rights: Too much of a good thing?

Developing countries’ incentives to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) are studied in a model of vertical innovation. Enforcing IPR boosts export opportunities to advanced economies but slows down technological transfers and incentives to invest in R&D. Asymmetric protection of IPR, strict in the North and lax in the South, leads in many cases to a higher world level of innovation than universal enforcement. IPR enforcement is U-shaped in the relative size of the export market compared to the domestic one: rich countries and small/poor countries enforce IPR, the former to protect their innovations, the latter to access foreign markets, while large emerging countries free-ride on rich countries’ technology to serve their internal demand.     

技术创新门限效应研究——基于知识产权保护与技术差异视角

本文利用中国30个省市区2000～2012年数据,采用面板门槛模型,基于知识产权保护与技术差异视角,对技术创新的门限效应进行研究。结果表明,知识产权保护的技术创新效应存在着明显的技术差异与知识产权保护门槛。不管以知识产权保护还是以技术差异作为门槛变量,加强研发物质资本与人力资本投入均能显著促进我国各省区技术创新水平。     

Carving up the commons—emergence of a new international regime for germplasm development and transfer

No nation has ever fabricated or maintained a prosperous food system based on genetic resources of purely indigenous origin. Remarkably, many countries now seem ready and almost eager to try such an approach. We identify four separate components of an emerging regime that are interacting in ways that should worry everyone concerned with the development and transfer of plant genetic materials into the South: new provisions on intellectual property; increased concentration of new enabling technologies into a few large multinational companies; heightened anxieties over transgenic crops; and new problems arising from international agreements. We argue that the solutions now being discussed in global forums are either infeasible, incomplete, or are likely to have seriously negative effects. We call instead for creative new thinking on building human capacity in developing countries, on the legal status of plant genetic resources, and on public−private partnerships, especially those in service of the poor.     

知识产权、交易效率与经济发展

近年来,知识产权与经济增长的关系,知识产权制度对经济发展的贡献度,已日益成为国内外学界、业界重点关注的问题。本文基于交易效率的角度,运用中国经济发展的实际数据,实证分析了知识产权保护水平强度对经济发展的影响。研究认为,交易效率的提升是经济发展的推动力;没有交易效率的提升,就没有持续协调的经济发展。知识产权保护的前提是提高交易效率,否则这种保护将不利于经济发展。     

The potential benefits of herbicide-resistant transgenic rice in Uruguay: Lessons for small developing countries

In many developing countries, the potential benefits from adopting a transgenic variety developed by a multinational corporation are limited by the crop’s small production base. This paper presents an ex-ante evaluation of the economic impact of herbicide resistant transgenic rice in a small developing country, Uruguay. To fully account for the multinational’s market power, the firm’s seed markup is assumed to affect the adoption rate for the variety. Stochastic simulation techniques are employed to understand how potential benefits may vary with changes in technology, yield, costs, and adoption parameters. The results indicate a $1.82 million mean net present value for producers from the development and utilization of transgenic rice in Uruguay and $0.55 million for the multinational. These relatively small multinational firm benefits suggest that a firm will not undertake significant efforts to develop transgenic varieties adapted to local conditions without either strategic partnerships with local institutions or access to wider regional markets.     

煤炭工业混合所有制改革投资主体权益问题分析

对混合所有制的认识从偏向宏观走向侧重微观,体现了改革的深入和细化;产权理论和公司治理理论是思考混合所有制改革中投资主体权益问题的理论基础;从微观经济层面总结了煤炭工业企业所有制的变化历程;基于对理论、历史与现状的思考,分析了煤炭工业混合所有制改革中各方投资主体面临的权益问题,并提出了相应的解决对策。     

R&D capabilities,intellectual property strength and choice of equity ownership in cross-border acquisitions: evidence from BRICS acquirers in Europe

The aim of the study is to investigate two relatively underexplored factors, namely, the R&D (research and development) capabilities of target firms and the strength of intellectual property (IP) institutions in target economies, that influences the choice of equity ownership in cross border acquisitions (CBAs) undertaken by multinational enterprises (MNEs) from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economies. They developed the key hypothesis on foreign market entry through CBAs by incorporating insights from transaction costs economics, the resource-based view and institutional theory to investigate the determinants of full versus partial equity ownership. Using logistic regression estimation methods to a sample of 111 CBA deals of BRICS MNEs in 22 European countries, it was found that BRICS MNEs were likely to pursue full rather than partial acquisition mode when target firms have high R&D capabilities. However, the greater the degree of strength of IP institutions in target economies and higher the target firms’ R&D capabilities, the more likely it is for BRICS MNEs to undertake partial, rather than, full acquisition mode. They provided interesting theoretical insights and managerial implications that might underlie some of the key findings on CBAs by emerging market MNEs.     

Can biotechnology reach the poor? The adequacy of information and seed delivery

The paper examines the expectation that biotechnology can provide significant benefits for smallholder farmers. It uses evidence from current seed systems and variety choice in developing countries. In particular, it examines the adequacy of information flow and the performance of seed markets. Many of the biotechnology innovations proposed for use by smallholders feature qualities that may not be immediately obvious to farmers; implications are drawn for the potential demand for these transgenic varieties. The adequacy of seed systems is also examined, including the characteristics of local seed diffusion and the experience of commercial seed enterprises. The paper concludes that investments in public biotechnology must be accompanied by policies that encourage commercial seed system development and that empower farmers to be able to take full advantage of new technology.     

R&D investment dynamics in agglomerations under weak appropriability regimes: Evidence from Indian R&D labs

What are the dynamics of R&D investment when firms agglomerate in environments with weak intellectual property rights protection? Specifically, do foreign and domestic firms present equal opportunities for free riding by domestic firms in such environments? We examine the impact on local firms' R&D investment from knowledge spillovers originating from co‐located foreign and domestic firms within and across industries. Building on fieldwork in India, we predict free riding by local firms on nearby foreign and local firms. Furthermore, we expect local firms to free ride more from other local firms within their industry and from foreign firms across industries. Analyzing a sample of 3,475 R&D lab investment decisions during 2003–2010 in India, we find that local firms free ride from other local firms both within and across industries. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How managers protect intellectual property rights in China using de facto strategies

Foreign firms trying to protect their intellectual property rights (IPRs) in emerging economies are suffering real pressures because these economies usually offer little or no enforcement of IPR. Foreign firms therefore have to resort to approaches unlike those they use in developed countries. This paper explores what managers of foreign firms in China have already tried in their efforts to achieve effective IPR protection – specifically, they have crafted de facto strategies that can protect IPR without using China's legal system or engaging in lawsuits against imitators. These strategies work, and this paper explains how and why, thus offering a potential template for IPR protection in other economies with weak appropriability systems.     

Firm Heterogeneity,New Investment and Acquisitions

This paper presents a model of investment in which heterogeneous firms choose between new investment and acquisitions. New investment involves purchasing a new plant for an existing variety. Acquisitions involve purchasing a plant and a variety from a selling firm. Using a variable‐elasticity demand system, I show that if varieties within a differentiated industry are imperfect substitutes, mid‐productivity firms invest. As varieties approach perfect substitutability, high‐productivity firms invest. For both cases, within the region of investing firms, the most productive choose acquisitions over new investment. In analyzing firm‐level data from Compustat, I find evidence that supports these predictions.     

When do firms undertake R&D by investing in new ventures?

We explore the conditions under which firms are likely to pursue equity investment in new ventures as a way to source innovative ideas. We find that firms invest more in new ventures—commonly referred to as ‘corporate venture capital’—in industries with weak intellectual property protection and, to some extent, in industries with high technological ferment and where complementary distribution capability is important. Furthermore, we find that the greater a firm's cash flow and absorptive capacity, the more likely it is to invest. Our results suggest that in Schumpeterian environments incumbents may supplement their innovative efforts by tapping into the knowledge generated by new ventures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.