Access to Science and Innovation in the Developing World - Economic Research Working Paper No.78.

Download or read book Access to Science and Innovation in the Developing World - Economic Research Working Paper No.78. written by Cuntz, Alexander and published by WIPO. This book was released on 2024-04-15 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We examine the implications of lowering barriers to online access to scientific publications for science and innovation in developing countries. We investigate whether and how free or low-cost access to scientific publications through the UN-led Research For Life (R4L) initiative leads to more scientific publications and clinical trials of authors affiliated with research institutions in developing countries. We find that free or reduced-fee access to the health science literature through Hinari (WHO-led subprogramme) increases the scientific publication output and clinical trials output of institutions in developing countries. In contrast, once we control for selection bias, we do not find empirical support for a positive Hinari effect on knowledge spillovers and local institutions’ research input into global patenting, as measured by paper citations in patent documents. Main findings can be generalized to other R4L subprogrammes and are likely to also apply to the WIPO-led Access to Research for Development and Innovation (ARDI) programme.