IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/cnpexx/v19y2014i3p384-406.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Patents on Innovation, Technology Transfer and Health: A Pre- and Post-TRIPs Analysis of India's Pharmaceutical Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Rory Horner

Abstract

The debate surrounding the World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement indicates that patents matter for development. Yet literature on the geography of knowledge transfer shows that knowledge is spatially sticky, suggesting that the impact of patents can be exaggerated. Using interview evidence, this paper explores how Indian pharmaceutical firms have responded to changes in patent law, including the introduction of more extensive patent protection in 2005 as a condition of TRIPs. A regime of limited patent protection for over three decades prior to TRIPs facilitated informal knowledge transfer and the emergence of a pharmaceutical industry with significant domestic capabilities. Contrary to some expectations, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has continued to grow post-TRIPs, with large domestic firms becoming involved in more formal technology transfer as part of an increasingly collaborative relationship with multinationals. This trend is also driven by a focus on the markets of developed countries, raising questions for the future sustainability of India's low-priced medicines. While changes in patent law can facilitate or inhibit a variety of aspects of development, the adaptation of the Indian pharmaceutical industry suggests that their impact must be related to the broader institutional setting, particularly the underlying domestic capabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Rory Horner, 2014. "The Impact of Patents on Innovation, Technology Transfer and Health: A Pre- and Post-TRIPs Analysis of India's Pharmaceutical Industry," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 384-406, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cnpexx:v:19:y:2014:i:3:p:384-406
    DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2013.796446
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13563467.2013.796446
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13563467.2013.796446?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carsten Fink & Keith E. Maskus, 2005. "Intellectual Property and Development : Lessons from Recent Economic Research," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7443.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Kale, Dinar, 2019. "From small molecule generics to biosimilars: Technological upgrading and patterns of distinctive learning processes in the Indian pharmaceutical industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 370-383.
    2. Bjerke, Lise, 2022. "Antibiotic geographies and access to medicines: Tracing the role of India's pharmaceutical industry in global trade," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    3. Basant, Rakesh & Srinivasan, Shuchi, 2015. "Intellectual Property Protection in India and Implications for Health Innovation: Emerging Perspectives," IIMA Working Papers WP2015-04-01, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    4. Fernando Almeida, 2021. "Systematic Review On Academic Entrepreneurship Indicators," Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Economics, SOUTH-WEST UNIVERSITY "NEOFIT RILSKI", BLAGOEVGRAD, vol. 9(2), pages 7-22.
    5. Thakur–Wernz, Pooja & Wernz, Christian, 2022. "Impact of stronger intellectual property rights regime on innovation: Evidence from de alio versus de novo Indian bio-pharmaceutical firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 457-473.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "The Least developed countries' TRIPS Waiver and the Strength of Intellectual Property Protection," EconStor Preprints 271537, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Mercedes Campi & Marco Dueñas & Matteo Barigozzi & Giorgio Fagiolo, 2019. "Intellectual property rights, imitation, and development. The effect on cross-border mergers and acquisitions," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 230-256, February.
    3. Yoshifumi Fukunaga & Ponciano Intal & Fukunari Kimura & Phoumin Han & Philippa Dee & Narjoko Dionisius & OUM Sothea, . "ASEAN Rising: ASEAN and AEC Beyond 2015," Books, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), number 2013-rpr-01 edited by Yoshifumi Fukunaga & Ponciano Intal, Jr. & Fukunari Kimura & Phoumin Han & Philippa Dee & Narjoko Di.
    4. Ryan, Michael P., 2010. "Patent Incentives, Technology Markets, and Public-Private Bio-Medical Innovation Networks in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1082-1093, August.
    5. Stefano Breschi & Francesco Lissoni & Gianluca Tarasconi, 2014. "Inventor Data for Research on Migration and Innovation: A Survey and a Pilot," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 17, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    6. Anja, Breitwieser & Neil, Foster, 2012. "Intellectual property rights, innovation and technology transfer: a survey," MPRA Paper 36094, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Deepak Somaya & Christine A. McDaniel, 2012. "Tribunal Specialization and Institutional Targeting in Patent Enforcement," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 869-887, June.
    8. Biancini, Sara & Bombarda, Pamela, 2021. "Intellectual property rights, multinational firms and technology transfers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 191-210.
    9. Mercedes Campi & Marco Duenas & Matteo Barigozzi & Giorgio Fagiolo, 2016. "Do Intellectual Property Rights Influence Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions ?," LEM Papers Series 2016/28, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    10. 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.
    11. Jacobo Alberto Campo Robledo, 2012. "Impacto De Las Patentes Sobre El Crecimiento Económico: Un Modelo Panel Cointegrado [Impact of Patents on Economic Growth: A Cointegrated Panel Data Model]," Working Papers hal-00744361, HAL.
    12. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Biancini, Sara & Paillacar, Rodrigo, 2019. "Universal intellectual property rights: Too much of a good thing?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 51-81.
    13. Frank Müller-Langer, 2009. "Does Parallel Trade Freedom Harm Consumers in Small Markets?," Croatian Economic Survey, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb, vol. 11(1), pages 11-41, April.
    14. Hu, Albert G.Z. & Zhang, Peng & Zhao, Lijing, 2017. "China as number one? Evidence from China's most recent patenting surge," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 107-119.
    15. Maloney, William F. & Perry, Guillermo, 2005. "Towards an efficient innovation policy in Latin America," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
    16. Mueller-Langer, Frank, 2010. "An analysis of the ambiguous welfare effects of parallel trade freedom," MPRA Paper 35704, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Yoshifumi Fukunaga & Ponciano Intal & Fukunari Kimura & Phoumin Han & Philippa Dee & Narjoko Dionisius & OUM Sothea, . "ASEAN Rising: ASEAN and AEC Beyond 2015," Books, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), number 2013-asean-rising edited by Yoshifumi Fukunaga & Ponciano Intal, Jr. & Fukunari Kimura & Phoumin Han & Philippa Dee & Narjoko Di.
    18. Jose Groizard, 2009. "Technology Trade," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(9), pages 1526-1544.
    19. Wen Chen, 2023. "The impact of digital economy development on innovation in renewable energy technologies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 4285-4308, December.
    20. Kyungchul Cho & Changseok Kim & Juneseuk Shin, 2015. "Differential effects of intellectual property rights on innovation and economic performance: A cross-industry investigation," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(6), pages 827-840.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:cnpexx:v:19:y:2014:i:3:p:384-406. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/cnpe20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.