This study is part of a technical assistance project funded by energy sector management assistance program (ESMAP) and implemented by the World Bank in Madagascar, which aims to support mapping resources and geospatial planning for small hydropower.
... See More + It is conducted in close coordination with the Ministry of Energy, the Electricity Regulation Office (ERO), Development Agency of Rural Electrification (DARE), and Jiro sy Rano Malagasy (JIRAMA). The objectives of the study are: (1) improving the quality and availability of information about the hydropower resourcein Madagascar; (2) a detailed review and update of Madagascar's small hydro potential (1-20 MW), and (3) recommendations for implementation of small hydro within the framework of energy sector planning. This report is delivered in the context of PHASE 2 (Ground-based data collection). In accordance with our Terms of References (Revised Terms of References for the Phase 2 (Activity 4) of the Project, 16 April 2015), the prefeasibility study covers the following aspects: Review of the existing data and GIS information ; Additional site visit to the two sites and main load centers / national grid connection by relevant sector experts ; Additional topographic and geotechnical surveys, update of the hydrology, and assessments of environmental and social impact to reach study results at pre-feasibility level; Preparation of a conceptual design and drawings at pre-feasibility level; Schematic Layout of Hydro Powerhouse, weir or dam (when applicable), waterways and Transmission Lines to the main load centers / national grid connection; Preparation of a Budgetary Cost Estimate, including costs for environmental and social costs, andElectricity Generation Estimate for a range of installed capacities; Preliminary economic analysis.
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This new issue of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) caseload statistics provides an updated profile of the ICSID caseload, historically and for the centre's fiscal year 2016.
... See More + It is based on cases registered or administered by ICSID. This document examines: the number of cases registered under the ICSID convention and additional facility rules; the number of other cases administered by the ICSID Secretariat; the basis of consent to ICSID jurisdiction invoked in registered arbitration and conciliation cases; the geographic distribution of ICSID cases by the State party to the dispute; the economic sectors involved in ICSID disputes; the outcomes in ICSID arbitration and conciliation proceedings, (including further information on disputes decided by arbitral tribunals); the nationality and geographic origins of arbitrators, conciliators and ad hoc committee members appointed in ICSID proceedings, and outcomes in annulment proceedings under the ICSID convention.
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This paper documents the influence of diaspora networks of highly-skilled individuals -- that is, inventors -- on international technological collaborations.
... See More + Using gravity models, it studies the determinants of the internationalization of inventive activity between a group of industrialized countries and a sample of developing and emerging economies. The paper examines the influence exerted by skilled diasporas in fostering cross-country co-inventorship as well as R&D offshoring. The study finds a strong and robust relationship between inventor diasporas and different forms of international co-patenting. However, the effect decreases with the level of formality of the interactions. Interestingly, some of the most successful diasporas recently documented -- namely, Chinese and Indian ones -- do not govern the results.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7619 APR 04, 2016
In 2005, as the result of a World Trade Organization mandate, India implemented a patent reform for pharmaceuticals that was intended to comply with the 1995 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
... See More + Exploiting variation in the timing of patent decisions,we estimate that a molecule receiving a patent experienced an average price increase of just 3–6 percent, with larger increases for more recently developed molecules and for those produced by justone firm when the patent system began. Our results also show little impact on quantities sold or on the number of pharmaceutical firms operating in the market.
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This paper outlines and evaluates several intellectual property monetization strategies available to patent holders in developing countries that help generate domestic innovation and knowledge-driven growth by promoting more active technology markets.
... See More + Based on a review of World Intellectual Property Report indicators, the patent ownership gap between a sample of developed and developing countries has narrowed gradually for more technologically-sophisticated developing countries. However, based on complementary International Monetary Fund Balance of Payments data, the patent commercialization divide (as indicated by licensing income) has been widening. The paper argues that patents, and all forms of intellectual property, are an enabling mechanism rather than a defensive right: an intangible asset class that can be proactively nurtured and managed for greater value extraction to stimulate knowledge-based entrepreneurship and growth in developing countries. The paper presents multiple case studies of alternative monetization strategies to address the commercialization divide. These strategies range from private, market-driven options to those requiring a greater amount of public policy support: from patent securitization and patent exchanges (focusing on the United States-initiated Intellectual Property Exchange International and the Shanghai Silicon Intellectual Property Exchange), to the strengthening of technology transfer and commercialization infrastructure (focusing on the experience of the Association of University Technology Managers and Taiwan, China's Intellectual Property Rights Institute), to patent litigation support (including South Korea's support of patent infringement lawsuit costs for small and medium enterprises). The paper also highlights areas where further policy research would be helpful.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6143 JUL 01, 2012
The enforcement of stringent intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical sector of developing countries generates considerable controversy, due to both the extensive research investment and the public policy importance of this sector.
... See More + This paper explores the likely effects of enforcing product patents on prices and utilization of drugs in the Central Nervous System market in India. The Central Nervous System segment is the second largest therapeutic category in terms of retail sales in the world and is one of the fastest growing segments in India. Using information on product patents granted by the government and panel data on pharmaceutical prices and utilization from 2003-2008, the paper finds limited evidence of overall price increase following the introduction of product patents. However, there appear to be heterogeneous effects on prices by the type of product patent granted on drugs, implying the need for a careful examination of the product patent portfolio.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6063 MAY 01, 2012
The study begins with an overview of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement and its flexibilities, delineating the legal requirements of the TRIPS agreement regarding their use.
... See More + It then examines the challenges entailed in the beneficial interpretation and implementation of the TRIPS agreement at both the national and regional levels under the auspices of African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI). The next section reviews the domestic antiretroviral (ARV) production experiences of Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana with an eye for evaluating the option of sustainable local production. The study is based on existing literature and on interaction with various key players and resource persons in government institutions, the private sector, and civil society groups, especially nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) at the national level. Information was gathered from officials of the regional patent institutions, OAPI and ARIPO, along with official documents of these institutions. International organizations involved in HIV/AIDS work in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) also provided input. The study was conducted under considerable time and logistical constraints, making it difficult to meet and interview all the persons that the authors wished to consult during travel across the African continent. Another limitation was the lack of an easily accessible database on ARVs and other HIV/AIDS medicines being used in Africa, their patent status, and their relative prices. National drug procurement bodies were often reluctant to divulge information on prices and quantities of medicines obtained.
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Publication 44815 APR 01, 2009
Osewe, Patrick L.; Nkrumah, Yvonne K.; Sackey, Emmanuel K.Disclosed
In 1994, India signed the Trade Related Intellectual Property (TRIPs) agreement, which obligated the country to dramatically strengthen its protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR).
... See More + This paper uses panel data on Indian firms from 1989 to 2005 to ascertain whether the IPR reforms were successful in increasing innovation by firms in India. The authors characterize industries according to their technological dependence on innovation, and find strong evidence that Indian firms in more innovation-intensive industries increased their research and development (R&D) expenditure after TRIPs. The estimated within-firm increase in annual R&D spending after TRIPs is on average 20 percentage points higher in an industry with a one standard deviation higher value of innovation intensity. This differential growth estimate is robust to accounting for contemporaneous trade and industrial policies, and growth in R&D spending by foreign-owned firms. The authors also find that patenting by India in the U.S. increased after TRIPs, and to a greater extent in more innovation intensive industries.
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The decade following India's accession to the World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property ushered in numerous changes to the country's patent system, culminating in a series of amendments in 2005.
... See More + But a functioning patent system is more than a statute. This paper discusses the steps that India must still take to develop an effective, functioning patent system capable of attracting foreign direct investment, motivating domestic innovation and education, and filtering its benefits to all elements of Indian society, including the poor and the possessors of traditional knowledge. The analysis combines data studies of historical and recent patenting activity in India and by Indians, interviews with Indian government officials, intellectual property attorneys, industrialists, and researchers, and lessons gleaned from patent systems abroad. It identifies critical needs and concrete steps to meet them. Improving public awareness of the revenue-generating potential of patents will enhance incentives for the participation of individuals and small and medium enterprises in the patent system. Formalizing guidelines for patents derived through government research funds-coupled with needed changes in institutional governance-will enhance prospects for technology transfer from laboratories to commercial markets. Compensation schemes for traditional knowledge will extend the benefits of intellectual property rights to the poorest members of society. This paper's recommendations would help India achieve both a fully functioning patent system and a mechanism for ensuring that poor people living traditional lifestyles receive their share of the social gains that a working innovation system can confer.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS4301 AUG 01, 2007
This issue discusses the following topics: Government's commitment and time table for leasing reform and legislation ("Finance Leasing Law"); Training of members of the Tanganyika law society; Leasing investor's conference; Collaboration with faculty of commerce and management of the University o Dar es Salaam; Banking sector technical team session on proposed financial leasing law; Consultative session with the Bank of Tanzania's directorate of banking supervision on regulations for leasing companies; Tanzania leasing association founder members meeting to define the way forward; 2006 market survey report; Business development support for banks and prospective leasing companies; Leasing news from the market; and IFC advisory services.
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The international comparison program (ICP) Executive Board directed the global office to document the processes leading to the publication of the global purchasing power parities (PPPs), gross domestic product (GDP) tables, and related information at a prescribed level of detail.
... See More + The global office is responsible to implement and monitor the program at the global level and to provide support to the ICP regional coordinators. The global office is also responsible for organizing the ring comparison which, by comparing prices from a small number of countries from each region using a list of product specifications developed to represent the world, will provide the means to link the regional comparisons with each other in one global or worldwide comparison. In this context, the report presents overview; data from the regional comparisons to be submitted to the global office; data from the ring comparison to be submitted to the global office; data validation; publication of the 2005 global comparison; ownership rights, copyrights for the 2005 global results, and the guardian of the data base until the next ICP round; and pricing policy.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 90320 OCT 18, 2006
Enterprises use credit to acquire productivity-enhancing assets. Rural enterprises in developing economies, however, often lack access to the credit they need.
... See More + Key reasons for this lack of access include the low level and scattered nature of economic activity in rural areas, the enterprises' lack of collateral, inadequate capacity among the country's lenders to lend in rural areas, and legal and policy environments that discourage lending to rural enterprises. Traditionally, leasing has served as an alternative to credit for urban enterprises, but generally it has not been a feasible option for rural enterprises. This paper argues that rural leasing can be viable and highlights the key factors to facilitate successful rural leasing, including the advantages of leasing, an enabling environment, and institutional support. The paper concludes that leasing is a viable tool to finance rural assets.
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Using a new global data base on patents and innovation inputs, the authors examine the process of knowledge creation measured by the dynamic relationship between research and development and U.S. patents granted.
... See More + They confirm at the country level the recurrent micro-level finding of a strong relationship between the two and estimate the OECD elasticity to be effectively equal to one. This conflicts with the frequent micro-level finding of strongly diminishing returns in knowledge generation and suggests the importance of knowledge spillover effects measurable only at the aggregate level. Developing countries, however, do show diminishing returns. The authors then explain the differences in spillovers between the OECD and developing countries by testing for the impact of measures of the functioning of the national innovation system-the set of institutions and agents that create and disseminate knowledge. Across the entire sample education, security of intellectual property rights, and in some specifications, the quality of research institutions and their interaction with the private sector, affect the transformation of research and development into patents.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS3739 OCT 01, 2005
Bosch, Mariano; Lederman, Daniel; Maloney, William F.Disclosed
Over the past few years, the United States has pursued an increasing number of bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) in different parts of the world.
... See More + This has marked a considerable shift in US international trade diplomacy. While the US Government entered into regional trade agreements in the past-notably in the case of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)-it relied mostly on the multilateral trading system to advance the progressive opening of world markets and to create legally enforceable trading rules.
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Leasing is a medium-term financial instrument for the procurement of machinery, equipment, vehicles and/or properties. Leasing provides financing of fixed assets (equipment, vehicles, etc) rather than direct capital.
... See More + Leasing institutions -- banks, leasing companies, insurance companies, equipment producers or suppliers, and non-bank financial institutions -- purchase the equipment and then provide the equipment for a set period of time to businesses. In Central Asia there have been positive changes in the leasing markets in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
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One of the most significant developments of the Uruguay Round of Trade Negotiations (1986-94) was the inclusion of intellectual property rights (IPRs) issues on the agenda of the multilateral trading system.
... See More + The resulting Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is one of three pillar agreements, setting out the legal framework in which the World Trade Organization (WTO) has operated since the end of the Uruguay Round. For the multilateral trading system, TRIPS marked the departure from narrow negotiations on border measures such as tariffs and quotas toward the establishment of multilateral rules for trade-affecting measures beyond borders. This move reflected underlying trends in international commerce. Due to the growth of trade in knowledge and information-intensive goods, the economic implications of imitation, copying, and counterfeiting had in many industries become at least as relevant for international commerce as conventional border restrictions to trade. Yet the TRIPS negotiations on intellectual property were marked by significant North-South differences. Developed countries, which host the world’s largest intellectual property-producing industries, were the key advocates for comprehensive minimum standards of protection and enforcement of IPRs. By contrast, many developing countries, which see themselves mostly as a consumer of intellectual property, felt that stronger standards of protection would serve to limit access to new technologies and products, thereby undermining poor countries’ development prospects. Not surprisingly, the TRIPS Agreement remains one of the most controversial agreements of the WTO.This short paper seeks to provide an introduction to the main instruments used to protect intellectual property in section second, the key economic trade-offs of stronger IPRs in section third, the basic provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in section four, and recent TRIPS developments affecting access to medicines in developing countries in section five.
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One of the most significant developments of the Uruguay Round of Trade Negotiations (1986-94) was the inclusion of intellectual property rights (IPRs) issues on the agenda of the multilateral trading system.
... See More + The resulting Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is one of three pillar agreements, setting out the legal framework in which the World Trade Organization (WTO) has operated since the end of the Uruguay Round. For the multilateral trading system, TRIPS marked the departure from narrow negotiations on border measures such as tariffs and quotas toward the establishment of multilateral rules for trade-affecting measures beyond borders. This move reflected underlying trends in international commerce. Due to the growth of trade in knowledge and information-intensive goods, the economic implications of imitation, copying, and counterfeiting had in many industries become at least as relevant for international commerce as conventional border restrictions to trade. Yet the TRIPS negotiations on intellectual property were marked by significant North-South differences. Developed countries, which host the world’s largest intellectual property-producing industries, were the key advocates for comprehensive minimum standards of protection and enforcement of IPRs. By contrast, many developing countries, which see themselves mostly as a consumer of intellectual property, felt that stronger standards of protection would serve to limit access to new technologies and products, thereby undermining poor countries’ development prospects. Not surprisingly, the TRIPS Agreement remains one of the most controversial agreements of the WTO.This short paper seeks to provide an introduction to the main instruments used to protect intellectual property in section second, the key economic trade-offs of stronger IPRs in section third, the basic provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in section four, and recent TRIPS developments affecting access to medicines in developing countries in section five.
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One of the alleged benefits of the recent global movement to strengthen intellectual property rights (IPRs) is that such reforms accelerate transfers of technology between countries.
... See More + The paper examines how technology transfer among U.S. multinational firms changes in response to a series of IPR reforms undertaken by 12 countries over the 1982-99 period. The analysis of detailed firm-level data reveal that royalty payments for intangibles transferred to affiliates increase at the time of reforms, as do affiliate research and development (R&D) expenditures and total levels of foreign patent applications. Increases in royalty payments and R&D expenditures are more than 20 percent larger among affiliates of parent companies that use U.S. patents more extensively prior to reform and therefore are expected to value IPR reform most.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS3305 MAY 01, 2004
Branstetter, Lee G.; Fisman, Raymond; Foley, C. Fritz
This report concerns about leasing in Central Asia of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Leasing is a medium-term financial instrument for the procurement of machinery, equipment, vehicles and/or properties.
... See More + The leasing market in Central Asia is poised for rapid development in 2004. Over the past two years, there have been several significant positive changes in the leasing market in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The Parliaments in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have significantly amended their leasing legislation Short Term Out look (sto) makes them more attractive for both foreign and domestic investment. Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan have both adopted new laws on financial leasing that are equally progressive. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan have all amended their respective tax codes to remove barriers to leasing and create a level playing field with traditional bank credit. The Government of Tajikistan has proposed similar tax conditions for leasing in Tajikistan which will be included in the new tax code for issue in January 2005. All of the recent changes have made the Central Asia region one of the most progressive for leasing in the world in terms of leasing legislation and tax policy. These positive changes in the legislation were due to constructive partnerships among the Parliaments, Governments, local commercial banks and leasing companies, with support from international financial institutions, including the International Finance Corporation which has set up technical assistance projects throughout Central Asia to assist in the creation and development of leasing. These partnerships formed the foundation for dynamic leasing growth in Central Asia.
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The World Trade Organization requires that members comply with minimum standards for intellectual property protection. These standards, embodied in the so-called Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement, were the result of a multi-faceted trade deal and did not, by themselves, engender broad support in much of the developing world.
... See More + The rules required for the protection of pharmaceutical products were bitterly controversial from their first introduction into the Uruguay trade round in the 1980s. Precisely because of the lack of consensus during the negotiations, the treaty leaves countries some flexibility to decide certain features of the intellectual property system. It is timely to take stock of the insights that economists can provide about whether it would be desirable for a poor country to offer broad protection in the area of biotechnology or whether a more limited approach would be preferable. Many developing countries must put in place new patent laws as soon as the end of 2005 and there are real decisions to be made.
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