The paper is motivated by concerns about the depletion of traditional knowledge and recent efforts to preserve this knowledge through commercial use. The study looks at incentives that can induce companies to invest in bio-prospecting and persuade traditional communities to share their knowledge.

A priori on pourrait croire qu'il y a un consensus sur la relation entre l'ouverture commerciale et la productivite des firmes. Il n'empeche qu'il manque une evidence empirique concluante sur les effets de l'ouverture commerciale sur la productivite des firmes. Dans cette etude, nous evaluons...

The services sector plays a vital infrastructure role in national economies, employs more people than other sectors, and is the most dynamic sector of world trade. New negotiations under the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services, which began in January 2000, offer an important opportunity...