The Development Impact of IP:
Economic Studies
Building Partnerships for Mobilizing Resources for
Development, Geneva, November 5 & 6, 2009
Carsten Fink
Chief Economist
Economic Studies, Statistics, and Analysis Division
Overview
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Strategic Realignment within WIPO
Why economic analysis on IP?
For whom?
Elements towards an economic research
agenda
• Quality of analysis
• Final remarks
Strategic realignment within WIPO
Economic Studies, Statistics, and Analysis Division
WIPO Chief Economist
IP Statistics Section
Economic Studies Section
Why economic analysis on IP?
• Ultimately, the formulation and
implementation of an IP system is an element
of economic policy
• Optimizing IP protection entails economic
trade-offs, which need to be understood at
the conceptual and empirical levels
• Contribution of economic analysis:
– Mathematical modeling: making explicit
assumptions about how the world works
– Empirical investigations
Why economic analysis on IP?
• Increased reliance on the IP system to foster
innovation; increased share of “knowledgebased” value added
• IP and global challenges
– Public health
– Food security
– Climate change
=> Increased need for economic analysis on IP
=> More and more IP offices hire economists
For whom?
“Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite
exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually
the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in
authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling
their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few
years back.”
John Maynard Keynes
The General Theory of Employment,
Interest and Money (1936)
For whom?
• Policymakers:
– Support operation of patent offices
– Offer input in IP policy reform processes
• Economics profession
• General public
Elements towards an economic research agenda
• Overall objective: high quality empirical
information and analysis to inform
policymakers on the economic effects of the
intellectual property (IP) system, particularly
with respect to developing countries.
• Global studies element
– Analyze technology, business, and policy-driven
trends affecting all WIPO Member countries
– Publish annual World Intellectual Property Report
Elements towards an economic research agenda
• National studies element
– Mandate: recommendations 35 and 37 of WIPO
Development Agenda
– Focus on needs of policymakers in developing
countries
– Strong empirical focus, including the creation of
new databases
– Work with researchers in developing countries
Quality of analysis
“Overall, while local economies may experience
significant speculative price imbalances, a national
severe price distortion [in home properties] seems
most unlikely in the United States, given its size
and diversity.”
Alan Greenspan
October 19, 2004
Quality of analysis
• Nobody can predict the future!
• Transparency of methodologies and modeling
approaches
• Institution of quality control mechanisms:
– Academic peer review
Final remarks
• Building economic research capacity and
delivering credible studies will take time
• Empirical research can be resource intensive
• Finding definite answers to some of the “big”
questions is probably elusive
• There is much scope to make informed
contributions to specific IP policy questions
Thank you!
[email protected]