Essays on the economics of technology policy in developing countries

This dissertation is presented as three independent papers addressing interrelated issues of pertinence to technology policy from a development perspective. The first paper takes a micro-founded approach toward exploring changes in the industrial structure of the pharmaceuticals industry in a typical developing country as it adjusts to the WTO/TRIPS agreement on intellectual property rights. Following a brief presentation of the relevant historical features of this global industry and a justification of the evolutionary approach that is employed, simulation exercises are performed on a dynamic industry model. It is revealed that significant firm exit and market concentration are likely outcomes of tighter patent laws. The second paper develops a novel approach for measuring technology imitation by the South through a proxy of patent scope. It then attempts to quantify its significance as a potential determinant of FDI inflows into selected high-technology sectors. The empirical investigation---employing data over the 1992--2001 period covering 13 countries from Asia and Latin America---demonstrates that neither this measure of patent infringement nor the more standard measures of intellectual property protection are significant, and that the most crucial determinant of high-tech investment lows appears to be the scientific and technical sophistication of the local personnel in the recipient countries. This may have different policy implications than those emphasized by the recent international patent agreements. The last paper uses an original set of sector-specific data from Jordan to provide insights into that country's experience with import liberalization and its implications for local technological performance. The motivation is to contribute to the ongoing debate of whether the relationship between foreign licensed technology and local R&D effort is complementary or substitutive. The study uses data related to various determinants of R&D effort from 22 sectors. Empirical results suggest that in many instances, it is possible for licensing to lead to less domestic technology effort on the part of the recipients. This could be due to domestic firms becoming too lax about engaging in independent research. From this standpoint, complete reliance on the private sector for a country at Jordan's stage of technological development is probably not appropriate.