Few topics in the life sciences today provoke as much debate as the availability of patent protection on "genetic inventions". Some hold that protection is essential to encourage innovation and development of new products. Others argue that patents restrict access to the very innovations they...

At its meeting in May 2003, the Ministerial Council asked the OECD to analyse the contribution made by the services sector to employment growth, productivity and innovation, and to identify factors, institutions and policies that could enhance the growth prospects of this sector. In response to...

Few systematic economic evaluations have been carried out on patent system to better inform policy choices. This report, which covers a range of areas, and highlights some issues that policy makers should address in the near future, including markets for technology, patenting by public reserach...

In OECD countries, the number of cities and regions which put learning, education, research and innovation at the heart of their development strategies is rapidly increasing and bringing together governments, the private sector and society. The growing interest in learning cities and regions...

How is innovation transforming tourism business models? By tackling the subject of innovation, this report touches upon an important dimension of tourism economics rarely examined at the international level. It provides information about the dynamics and characteristics of innovation in tourism,...

How does government funding of corporate R&D affect the behaviour of firms? Ongoing efforts to boost business investment in R&D demand better methods of evaluating the effectiveness of government policy instruments. Efforts to explicitly measure changes in the ways firms conduct R&D as a result...

To match the global demand and supply of innovation, businesses increasingly internationalise their innovation activities while opening their innovation process by collaborating with external partners (e.g., suppliers, customers, universities). This book examines what drives these global...

Innovation drives long-term economic growth. It has a crucial role to play as global economies recover from the current financial crisis. This book examines the role of innovation in developing countries, with a focus on Africa. It investigates innovation systems and their application; the key...