Innovation and Creativity
While economists advocate the dismantling of government-imposed restrictions towards international trade, there continues to be a strong need for government action to address failures of private markets to provide for an efficient allocation of resources. One crucial action is giving appropriate incentives for investments in inventive and creative activities. The projects address a few challenges in the context of innovation and creativity in international trade stemming from the emergence of new technologies and business models, the changing composition of the world economy, novel innovation needs and the evolving overall governance structure for international trade that is fragmented and increasingly involves bilateral, regional and plurilateral approaches next to the multilateral model.
Cluster 1
New products are essential in a liberalized global economy and are the driving force of growth and welfare. The cluster investigates the effectiveness of public and private sector strategies to promote sustainable development and social empowerment through product innovation. For that purpose we look at economic theory, best practices in promoting innovation, and the effects of private standards and environmental policies. The goal is to recommend improvements to the legal frameworks that foster sustainable development through innovation.
aerni_p
Applying new growth theory to int’l trade
International trade theory and the economic models (...)
Public support for product innovation in (...)
Due to the unexpected world food crisis, the world is (...)
Are private standards obstacles to trade?
The impact of private standards on development is (...)
Enabling product innovation and trade (...)
E-mentoring is widely recognized as a tool to promote (...)
Access to Animal Genetic Resources for Food (...)
Livestock diversity is eroding worldwide. Yet, under (...)
Cluster 2
Cluster 2 continues the work on the patent system which is pivotal to innovation. Following on from the research on the legal notion of ‘abuse of patent rights’, this cluster investigates tools to address the doubts as to the patent system’s efficiency in incentivising innovation. The hypothesis is that the patent system is flexible enough to cope with most issues, provided that the quality of patents is assured and the rights are adjusted to the level of economic development of each country.
temmerman_m
Assessing the working requirement in TRIPS (...)
Are countries allowed to require the ‘working’ of (...)
The structure of patent costs and innovation
Patent quality may call for more financial resources (...)
Transparency in patent law: more transparency (...)
Transparency calls for openness, participation and (...)
Cluster 3
Cluster 3 seeks to explore the implications of new technological developments for international trade regulation. The research focuses on three discrete technologies – digital (P3.1), nano (P3.2) and synthetic biology (P3.3), although insights gained in each of these research strands are intended to feed into a common, deeper understanding of novel technologies acting as challenges to global trade governance models, and as a trigger for adjustments.
burri_m
The regulatory challenge of nanotechnology
The project examines the initiatives on various levels (...)
Synthetic biology and trade governance
Synthetic biology applies engineering principles to (...)
Innovation and Creativity - Archived Projects 2009/10/11
Access to content (A2C) in the digital (...)
The project examines the conditions of access to (...)
The role of interoperability in international (...)
The project seeks to gain a deeper understanding of (...)
Institutional conflicts and plant genetic (...)
The global IP governance framework is in itself marked (...)
Investigating the Need for Ceilings in the (...)
Establishing minimum standards for IP protection, the (...)
Nanotechnology: the invention-discovery (...)
We explore the distinction between invention and (...)
The protection of IPRs through investment (...)
This research project tackles the question of the (...)
Rights to animal genetic resources for food (...)
New (bio)technologies have simplified transfer and (...)
The law, economics and policy of financial (...)
This interdisciplinary project on financial innovation (...)
Testing selected innovation-targeted tools in (...)
Innovative local entrepreneurs in developing countries (...)
The role of IPR protection in encouraging FDI (...)
The relationship between intellectual property rights (...)
