Obstacles to progress in R&D activities caused by Institutional and Regulatory Frameworks: the case of the Biotech Sector in Colombia

Estrada, Fernando and Moscoso, Fabio F and Diaz, Natalia and Andrade, Nelson (2015): Obstacles to progress in R&D activities caused by Institutional and Regulatory Frameworks: the case of the Biotech Sector in Colombia. Published in: Research in World Economy , Vol. VI, No. 4 (December 2015): pp. 116-122.

Abstract

This article is based on an exhaustive review of empirical evidence from secondary sources of information seeking to answer the research question: What are the main obstacles raised by the Institutional and Regulatory framework for R&D activities in Colombia’s biotechnology sector? The main findings indicate: (I) that there is a flawed competitive environment that tends to create oligopolies and other scenarios that facilitate the hoarding of information and knowledge and prevent access by many scientists to relevant new information breakthroughs, thus generating material asymmetries between the scientific communities of developed and developing countries; and (II) that other obstacles, generally associated with government shortcomings, produce non-financial transaction costs in terms of time and administrative processes, that represent significant impediments to the development of the biotechnology industry and which, in the Colombian case, have slowed progress in the sector.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Biotechnology, Property Rights, Public Policy, Institutional Environment.
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H4 - Publicly Provided Goods > H41 - Public Goods; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O14 - Industrialization ; Manufacturing and Service Industries ; Choice of Technology; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O16 - Financial Markets ; Saving and Capital Investment ; Corporate Finance and Governance; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O34 - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q14 - Agricultural Finance; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q18 - Agricultural Policy ; Food Policy

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