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Policy Space for Development in the WTO and Beyond: The Case of Intellectual Property Rights

Author

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  • Shadlen, Ken
Abstract
Global governance in intellectual property (IP) has changed dramatically in the last two decades, and these changes have profound - and worrying - implications for late development. What was once principally an instrument of national policy is now increasingly subject to international disciplines, as the world moves ever-closer to harmonization in the area of IP management. But moving toward harmonization and achieving harmonization are different matters, and it is essential to keep in mind that the former and not the latter describes contemporary arrangements: the trend is toward a reduction in policy space, a feature that many scholars and activists point to with great concern (Gallagher, 2005), but the outcome remains one where countries retain space for autonomous IP management. This paper examines the relationship between IP and development, presenting a framework for assessing IP regimes both cross-nationally and over time. It is then shown how the trend toward harmonization places new and significant restrictions on developing countries' opportunities for policy innovation in IP management. The implications of harmonization for a range of issues are then considered, including late industrialization, promotion of public health, and protection of biodiversity. The paper shows that the new regulations are most accentuated at the regional and bilateral level. Thus, for all of the concerns that academics and policy analysts have legitimately and rightly expressed over TRIPS, the biggest threat to using IP policy as tool for realizing development objectives comes not so much from the World Trade Organization (WTO) as from bilateral and regional Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) between developed and developing countries. I demonstrate this by examining various aspects of IP policy: over and over, we see that countries that are parties to such PTAs have significantly less autonomy in their management of IP. In the conclusion, a set of policy recommendations are put forth, at both regional and multilateral levels, for restoring countries' ability to use IP as a tool for economic development. The policy challenges are twofold: developing countries must utilize and exploit the remaining opportunities under TRIPS to use IP management for national development purposes, and developing countries must be careful to avoid bargaining away their remaining rights under PTAs.

Suggested Citation

  • Shadlen, Ken, 2005. "Policy Space for Development in the WTO and Beyond: The Case of Intellectual Property Rights," Working Papers 15577, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:tugdwp:15577
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.15577
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    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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    Cited by:

    1. Iain Osgood & Yilang Feng, 2018. "Intellectual property provisions and support for US trade agreements," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 421-455, September.
    2. Frank Ackerman, "undated". "The Unbearable Lightness of Regulatory Costs," GDAE Working Papers 06-02, GDAE, Tufts University.
    3. Shadlen, Ken, 2007. "The Politics of Patents and Drugs in Brazil and Mexico: The Industrial Bases of Health Activism," Working Papers 37710, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    4. Ackerman, Frank & Stanton, Elizabeth A., 2006. "Can Climate Change Save Lives? A comment on “Economy-wide estimates of the implications of climate change: Human health"," Working Papers 37240, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    5. Akyüz, Yılmaz., 2008. "Global rules and markets : constraints over policy autonomy in developing countries," ILO Working Papers 994204053402676, International Labour Organization.
    6. Rainer Kattel & Leonardo Burlamaqui, 2016. "Development Theory: Convercence, Catch-Up Or Leapfrogging And Finance ?," Anais do XLII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 42nd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 073, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    7. Timothy A. Wise, "undated". "Identifying the Real Winners from U.S. Agricultural Policies," GDAE Working Papers 05-07, GDAE, Tufts University.
    8. Paus, Eva A. & Gallagher, Kevin P., 2006. "The Missing Links between Foreign Investment and Development: Lessons from Costa Rica and Mexico," Working Papers 37156, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    9. Salam Alshareef, 2015. "Patent regulation in North-South and South-South Trade Agreements," Post-Print halshs-01273156, HAL.
    10. Frank Ackerman & Elizabeth Stanton & Rachel Massey, "undated". "European Chemical Policy and the United States: The Impacts of REACH," GDAE Working Papers 06-06, GDAE, Tufts University.
    11. Salam Alshareef, 2015. "Patent Provisions in Chinese Trade Agreement," Post-Print halshs-03582933, HAL.
    12. K.Ravi Srinivas, 2009. "Climate Change, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Rights," Governance Working Papers 22786, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    13. repec:ilo:ilowps:420405 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Arza, Valeria & López, Andrés & Montes-Rojas, Gabriel & Pascuini, Paulo, 2023. "In the name of TRIPS: The impact of IPR harmonisation on patent activity in Latin America," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    15. Julie A. Nelson, "undated". "Ethics and International Debt: A View from Feminist Economics," GDAE Working Papers 06-04, GDAE, Tufts University.
    16. Ken Shadlen, 2008. "Globalisation, Power and Integration: The Political Economy of Regional and Bilateral Trade Agreements in the Americas," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 1-20.

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