The challenge of constructing regional advantages in peripheral areas: The case of marine biotechnology in Tromsø, Norway

The idea of constructing regional advantage (CRA) has recently been emphasized by scholars as a new way for firms to gain competitiveness in a globalizing learning economy. The rationale behind the idea is that advantages in a regional industry can be constructed by proactive public–private partnership. This article uses, and examines the relevance of, the CRA framework in analysing the development and functioning of the marine biotechnology industry in Tromsø, which is a fairly peripheral region in Norway. Despite the fact that much effort has been put into education and R&D at the University of Tromsø and related research institutes, and the fact that many public policy tools have intended to create a blooming marine biotechnology industry in the area, the results have so far been meagre. This article explains the rather weak results in terms of the number of firms and jobs in the marine biotechnology industry in Tromsø as being due to a lack of synthetic knowledge on how to industrialize research results and little spillover of market knowledge. With regard to more general theoretical lessons linked to the CRA framework, this article argues for seeing the concept of related variety in a broader industrial and geographical sense in peripheral regions.     

生物技术集群的创新特性研究

在集群创新的理论框架内,从生物技术产业创新的规律入手,归纳分析了生物技术集群的几个主要创新特性,包括科学商业、接力创新、平台创新、非正式网络创新等。利用理论分析结果得到培育生物技术集群的若干启示,分别为强化集群科学基础、促进科学商业发展、构建接力创新网络、以协同创新思想保障接力过程、建设非正式网络。     

农业生物技术的接力创新:特性、机理及政策启示

采用多案例研究方法,通过研究8个典型案例验证了农业生物技术的接力创新在发生范围、创新类型、接力关系及接力方式等方面的特性。基于农业生物技术创新过程及生物农业产业的其他特征,进一步研究了农业生物技术接力创新的形成机理,并对相关特性进行了解释。最后,针对中国农业生物技术创新提出了若干政策启示。     

生物技术实验室的规范化管理浅谈

根据国家级森林植物教学实验示范中心生物技术实验室学生多、实验课多、实验房间小的实际情况,生物技术实验室要进行内务管理、营造舒适的实验环境;规范实验仪器设备的管理,提高利用率;规范药品、试剂的管理;加强本科实验教学的管理,提高学生综合素质;凸显研究生专业实验室的作用,取得科研成果;提高实验技术人员的素质,加强实验教学师资队伍的建设。     

The Role of Patent Rights in Mergers: Consolidation in Plant Biotechnology

Few empirical studies have addressed the impact of the patent system on industry structure. Using firm-level patent data for firms in plant biotechnology, we develop a measure of patent enforceability. Duration models show that patent statistics are useful predictors of the timing of consolidation and that patent enforceability is an important factor influencing the likelihood of consolidation. Acquisitions in plant biotechnology may be motivated by the enforcement of patent rights when firms have overlapping technologies; some merger activity may be explained by attempts to avoid mutually blocking technology, as exemplified by the case of Roundup Ready corn.     

Welfare Impacts of Cross-Country Spillovers in Agricultural Research

The welfare implications of intellectual property protection (IPP) for private sector agricultural research are analyzed, focusing on the realistic cases where countries provide different IPP levels, technology spills over across countries, and the public sector is involved in research. A model is developed to determine who benefits from, and who should pay for, the associated research. The article contains some interesting results on the implications of a harmonization of IPP policies through multilateral agreements or via technology that allows research firms to prevent the copying of plants and animals that express traits that have emerged from their research.     

Building an Alliance for Biotechnology in Africa

Scholars and activists working from within a political economy perspective often fail to explore the distinct motives, interests and behaviours of powerful actors who appear to be working ‘as one’ on a common agenda. Such is the case in recent analyses of efforts to promote the use of biotechnology in Africa. While the critical literature largely focuses on the attempt to create what Peter Newell calls ‘bio‐hegemony’, the present paper explores the diverse interests and tensions that have to be worked out in order to build such pro‐biotechnology coalitions. I analyse the formation of an organization called the African Agricultural Technology Foundation to show how differences between two major pro‐biotech actors – the Rockefeller Foundation and the agricultural biotechnology industry – were negotiated, so that these actors could work together towards the goal of getting GM technologies used and accepted in Africa. In the process, I reveal the inward projection of power that occurred as the biotech companies effectively determined the structure and terms of this alliance.     

Synergistic effects and the co-existence of networks in clusters

Abstract

Network systems like clusters are characterized by the coexistence of relational architectures with ties and nodes of different nature. While recent research has analysed how a set of structural features shape the dynamics and effects of one cluster network, the outstanding question is to what extent such features and outcomes are influenced by the concomitance of distinct content-related linkages. This paper integrates both network and evolutionary economic geography perspectives to develop and test a model that links innovation performance with the benefits that stem from technical and business relations. Data collected in a biotech cluster in the Valencia region (Spain) demonstrate the changing effect of brokerage and overlapping ties on innovation as a function of knowledge shared. Findings extend the theoretical understanding of how knowledge diffuses in clusters and provide valuable insights for both practitioners and policy makers.     

美国农业生物技术研发投资与专利保护

现代农业生物技术在缓解全球粮食安全、资源枯竭、环境恶化等一系列重大问题中发挥了极其重要的作用。美国农业生物技术研究和产业化发展非常迅速，与其相关的知识产权制度立法也经过多次调整完善，巩固了其技术和市场优势。本文通过介绍美国农业生物技术研发投资现状，梳理其知识产权制度的发展历程，并从授权专利的申请单位类型、技术类型和前十强企业的专利集中度等方面，分析农业生物技术的专利保护进展，总结美国农业生物技术研发及其知识产权保护制度的成功经验，以期为促进我国农业生物技术创新及其知识产权保护制度的完善提供经验借鉴。