The Role of Scientific and Technical Data and Information in the Public Domain Proceedings of a Symposium (2003) / Chapter Skim
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5. Scientific Knowledge as a Global Public Good: Contributions to Innovation and the Economy
5. Scientific Knowledge as a Global Public Good: Contributions to Innovation and the Economy
Pages 35-51
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From page 35... ...
2Among economists, the most prominent proponent of scientific goods in the international arena is Jeffrey Sachs, who has been primarily concerned with expanding health and agricultural research in and for developing nations (Sachs, 1999, 2000a)
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Historical Perspectives The starting point is public goods, which were long considered, at most, at the national level and for public institutions and services. Hence there is a need to expand the definition in several directions: to knowledge as a global public good, to global scientific knowledge, and to recognition of the role played by IPRs.
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16~.7 The age of global exploration that followed Columbus did much to bring about a global exchange of biological material and associated information. In the view of one historian, "Nothing like this global range of knowledge had ever been available before," and it proved to be "a boost to Europe's incipient 'scientific revolution'." "In this way, the exchange "made a major contribution to the long-run shift in the world balance of knowledge and power as it tilted increasingly toward the West" (Fernandez-Armesto, 2002, p.
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From page 38... ...
Contemporary Economic Perspectives The next step in building a conceptual base is to move to some more recent perspectives, largely by economists, about the role played by knowledge in thinking about economic growth and then, in a more applied way, in international development programs. Knowledge and Economic Growth The role of knowledge, and particularly of scientific knowledge, in economic growth has received relatively little concerted study.9 Kenneth Boulding was one of the first to draw attention to the connection.l° In 1965, he stated at a meeting of the American Economic Association: The recognition that development, even economic development, is essentially a knowledge process has slowly been penetrating the minds of economists, but we are still too much obsessed by mechanical models, capital-income ratios, and even input-output tables, to the neglect of the study of the learning process (Boulding, 1966, p.
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reiterated some of these points, but went on to note that although "research is a central element of knowledge for development," it is also a "global public good requiring public support at the global level." The latter requires collective action, and "The challenge facing the international community is whether we can make our current system of voluntary, cooperative governance work in the collective interests of all." This indeed is a central question. PROVISION AND USE The provision and use of scientific knowledge for the benefit of society are inviting to dream about, but are of course more difficult to realize.
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In 1884, John Wesley Powell, possibly reflecting the more ebullient spirit of the times stated "The harvest that comes from well-directed and thorough scientific research has no fleeting value, but abides through the years, as the greatest agency for the welfare of mankind." The belief that science could be harnessed for the benefit of all continued and perhaps peaked in the 1950s (Watson, 2002, p.
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Thereafter, public-sponsored research at the federal and state level gradually began to accelerate in the United States.l3 Industrial research also dates from the latter half of the 1800s. The first corporate research laboratories were established in Europe by the chemical industry, particularly the dyestuffs sector, in the late 1860s and 1870s (Homburg, 1992; Mokyr, 2002, p.85~.
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Partial excludability is maintained with governmental participation principally through copyrights, patents, or trade secrets.l5 The differing paths result in differing degrees of market power or control, ranging from none (or pure competition) to complete (or a monopoly)
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thinks that, although both types involve substantial nondisclosure, legal trade secrecy may be more disruptive of scientific communication than actual secrecy. i6The commission was established by Claire Short, the Secretary of State for International Development in the United Kingdom, in May 2001.
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180) concludes that, although there are substantial parallels between patent laws and scientific norms, "the conjunction may nevertheless cause delay in the dissemination of new knowledge and aggravate inherent conflict between the norms and reward structure of science." Resolution, she thinks, will involve adjustments on both sides.
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The CGIAR and its centers provided the opportunity to generate the global public scientific goods that could be adapted to regional and national needs (and in some instances used directly)
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; and the operation and management of research facilities in a developing country, with a mixture of international and local staff, can be challenging. The task can be further complicated by a variety of external or exogenous issues such as nationalistic inhibitions about sharing biodiversity, concerns about IPRs, and the global debate about genetically modified organisms.21 The budget for all of this is rather modest only $337.3 million in 2001, and has stagnated for the past decade.
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CONCLUDING REMARKS Scientific knowledge in its relatively pure form is, as stated at the outset, the epitome of a global public good. It is normally freely available to all and is not diminished by use indeed it may grow with use.
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, and may be complicated by political issues at both ends and natural disasters and civil disturbances in developing nations. Some promising international health research activities currently are getting under way with the support of a major foundation, but the narrow base of support may provide a problem in the future.
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2002. "International Agricultural Research as a Global Public Good: A Review of Concepts, Experience, and Policy Issues." U.S.
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1999. "Knowledge as a Global Public Good," in Kaul, Grunberg and Stern (1999)
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