Year
2022
Abstract
Innovation-oriented cross-border collaborations are a means through which developing countries can upgrade technologically. However, the benefits accruing from cross-border collaborations can be asymmetric: while they may possess crucial resources, the developing country may gain little from the collaboration. This chapter examines the context of bioprospecting, defined as the search for biodiversity aimed at commercial exploitation of its biochemical or genetic elements. The well-documented exploitation of developing countries’ natural resources by international partners has made bioprospecting a ‘dark spot’ in the cross-border collaboration space. The chapter adopts an abductive configurational approach to investigate the sets of conditions that allow cross-border agreements to include knowledge transfer and innovation, through crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis. Based on an empirical analysis of fifty-nine cases, some policy recommendations about the need for international collaborations and investments to include greater respect for local communities’ fundamental rights and ecosystems are provided.
GIULIANI, E., JACQUEMINET, A. et NIERI, F. (2022). Bringing Light to Dark Spots: The Case of Cross-border Bioprospecting. Dans: Davide Castellani, Alessandra Perri, Vittoria G. Scalera, Antonello Zanfei eds. Cross-border innovation in a changing world: Players, places, and policies. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 324-345.