The desperate need for a vast part of the global population to access better medicines in more certain ways is one of the biggest concerns of the modern era.
"Pills for the Poorest" offers a new perspective on the much-debated issue of the links between intellectual property and access to medication. Using ethnographic case studies in Djibouti and Ghana, and insights from actor-network theory, it explores the ways in which TRIPs and pharmaceutical patents are translated in the daily practices of those who purchase, distribute, and use (or fail to use) medicines in sub-Saharan Africa. It suggests that focusing on routine practices and the material deployment of intellectual property significantly enriches our understanding of the complex dynamics that animate the field of access to medicines and helps relocate the role of law within those processes. It demonstrates how intellectual property affects access to medicines in ways that are often discreet, indirect and forgotten. By exploring these complex mechanisms, it seeks to ask questions about the modes of actions of pharmaceutical patents, but also, more generally, about the complexity of legal objects.

Technological change has transformed the ways knowledge is developed and shared internationally. Accordingly, in the quarter-century since the WTO was established, and since its Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights came into force, both the knowledge dimension of trade and the functioning of the IP system have been radically transformed. The need to understand and respond to this change has placed knowledge at the centre of policy debates about economic and social development. Recognizing the need for modern analytical tools to support policymakers and analysts, this publication draws together contributions from a diverse range of scholars and analysts. Together, they offer a fresh understanding of what it means to trade in knowledge in today's technological and commercial environment. The publication offers insights into the prospects for knowledge-based development and ideas for updated systems of governance that promote the creation and sharing of the benefits of knowledge.

This book analyses the ongoing reform of the European economic union in the light of the new objective of 'stability of the euro area as a whole' in Article 136(3) TFEU. On the basis of the relevant legal sources, it qualifies this objective as the obligation to preserve the existence of the monetary union, the establishment of which was an EU goal laid down in Article 3(4) TEU. While to date the objective has been achieved through fiscal and macroeconomic consolidation in the member states and the activation of stabilisation mechanisms in cases of emergency, the book argues that full stability requires a better system of economic governance, either through a process of partial fiscal centralisation or the return to a more efficient and sustainable market discipline of public finances. It also analyses the concrete legal challenges these raise, including compliance with the conferral principle, the longstanding democratic deficit of the governance and the balance between financial solidarity and fiscal responsibility.

This book gathers contributions from a broad range of jurisdictions, written by practitioners and academics alike, and offers an unparalleled comparative view of key issues in competition law, intellectual property and unfair competition law, with a specific focus on the use of personal data. The first part focuses on the role of competition law in shaping the digital economy. It discusses the use of personal data, the market power of platforms, the assessment of free services, and more broadly the responsibility of dominant companies in the smooth functioning of the digital economy. In turn, the second part sheds light on how the conduct of influencers, native advertising and the use of AI for marketing purposes can be controlled by the law, focusing on the use of personal data and the impact of behavioral advertising on consumers. In this regard, the book brings together the current legal responses across a number of European and other countries, all summarized and elaborated on in the form of two international reports. The LIDC is a long-standing international association that focuses on the interface between competition law and intellectual property law, including unfair competition issues.

From agriculture to sport and from climate change to indigenous rights, transnational regulatory regimes and actors are multiplying and interacting with poorly understood results. This interdisciplinary book investigates whether, how and by whom transnational business governance interactions (TBGIs) can be harnessed to improve the quality of transnational regulation and advance the interests of marginalized actors. Exploring multiple sectors and issue areas, Transnational Business Governance Interactions presents new empirical and theoretical research from leading and emerging scholars and identifies obstacles to, and opportunities for, mobilizing TBGIs to enhance regulatory capacities, outputs and outcomes and to advance marginalized actors in transnational business governance. The prime readership for this work is an interdisciplinary audience of academics including scholars of law, business, environmental studies, international relations, political science, political economy and sociology. Because of its attention to practical strategies to harness governance interactions to enhance regulatory quality and advance marginalized groups, the book will also be of interest to high-level participants in global business governance, including standards-setting bodies, certification bodies, auditors, trade associations, civil society organizations, social movement organizers, national regulators, overseas development agencies and international organizations. Contributors include: K.W. Abbott, G. Auld, M. Bach, S. Carodenuto, B. Cashore, D. Casey, C.C.-H. Chen, B. Eberlein, P. Foley, S. Gao, T. Havinga, L.F. Henriksen, E. Meidinger, N. Oman, P. Paiement, S. Renckens, R. Schmidt, L. Seabrooke, P. Verbruggen, O. Westerwinter, J.K. Winn, S. Wood

This monograph offers a detailed and distinctive analysis of corporate nationality under international investment law, covering the ICSID Convention and the investment treaty framework. It takes the reader back to the basics, threading through the concepts of jurisdiction, nationality, and corporate personality to give a clear context to the discussion of corporate nationality under international investment law, at a time when international investment is dominated by multinational business enterprises operating in a globalised economy. The book examines different understandings of corporate personality and nationality under a selection of jurisdictions and public international law. It also offers an in-depth analysis of approaches found in ICSID arbitral awards and in investment treaty practice, distilling the problematic areas and discussing the impacts of the areas of concern. It evaluates the techniques developed to address problems and puts forward suggestions for effective and balanced solutions to the questions of corporate nationality and personal scope of investment protection.

This book is the first to analyze the compliance of different types of a breeder's exception to patent rights with article 30 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. This type of exception allows using protected biological matter for breeding new varieties of plants. The breeder's exception is widely accepted under plant variety legislation, but it is not common under patent laws despite the fact that patent rights often cover plant varieties. Only few European countries have adopted such an exception. After the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, the exception will be mandatory for all European Union Member states. Based on a legal and economic approach, this book offers guidance to those countries that need to incorporate a breeder's exception into their national patent systems and suggests the importance of the exception for promoting plant breeding activities.

This book explores the legal regime of non-product related process and production methods (NPR PPMs) in the context of trade-restrictive environmental measures, eco-labelling requirements and sanitary measures under the WTO. These issues serve as concrete, representative examples that raise broader questions about the legitimacy of the WTO dispute settlement system and help to explore the true position of WTO members in this complex legal regime. NPR PPMs are process and production methods that do not affect the product as such, meaning that there is no discernible difference in two products with different NPR PPMs. This work examines WTO states' attempts to regulate in this regard and create product distinctions on the basis of NPR PPMs. To do so, it scrutinizes historical, institutional, substantive and case-law issues related to NPR PPMs, environmental policy and the WTO. Further, the book addresses the issues of legitimacy, regulatory space and reform, contributing to the lively debate on the future of the WTO.

This book explores how law and policy makers within the Southern African Development Community regional structure might reform the legal and regulatory frameworks to best capitalise the benefits of the movement of people, drawing lessons from other experienced jurisdictions by critically engaging with the regulatory efforts and approaches in regions such as the European Union, the Economic Community of West African States, and the East African Community to propose a revised approach to migration governance and practice in the SADC. Deeper regional integration allows citizens to move freely across national boundaries, and services are a rising component of global trade and investment. However, global trade in services is stifled by barriers at and behind the border. These barriers make it difficult for service providers from developing regions to access key markets in their preferred modes of service trade. Against this background, this book aims to take the discussion on furthering regional integration and trade through the movement of people by tackling issues on stringent immigration policies, arguing that having a vibrant and rewarding trade in services will require an approach towards the unrestricted movement of persons.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Understanding Regional Integration and the Laws Regulating the Movement of Persons

1. Introduction to Regional Integration and the Movement of Persons

2. Legal Provisions Relating to the Movement of People

Part 2: Approach to the Movement of Persons Within the EU, ECOWAS and EAC: What Can Be Learned?

3. Comparison Between the European Union, Economic Community of West African States and East African Community

Part 3: The Impetus for Migration Governance Reform in the SADC

4. Movement of People in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) with Reference to South Africa

5. Reassessing the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Approach to Movement of People

Part 4: Conclusion

6. Conclusion and Recommendations

This book discusses the use of the compromissory clause in international investment agreements (IIAs) for interstate dispute resolution. It puts forward the possibility of using state-to-state arbitration based on the compromissory clause in IIAs as an alternative means of resolving investment disputes in light of the global debate on the shortcomings of investor-state arbitration. The book's main conclusion is that state-to-state arbitration may be used as an alternative to currently popular investor-state arbitration by resolving procedural hurdles which impede its acceptance. It becomes more important with the removal of investor-state arbitration as an option in certain recent IIAs, which then elevates state-to-state arbitration as the sole option for binding third party dispute resolution in the treaty. Even then, it is unlikely to replace investor-state arbitration completely due to its inherent shortcomings, such as the risk of re-politicising disputes and a lack of direct control over the process for the affected investors. Nevertheless, the availability of an alternative forum will benefit all parties involved, as they will no longer be wholly dependent on investor-state arbitration, which can be affected by events such as denunciation from the ICSID Convention or the refusal of a host state to enforce an arbitration award.

This anthology provides an in-depth analysis and discusses the issues surrounding nudging and its use in legislation, regulation, and policy making more generally. The 17 essays in this anthology provide startling insights into the multifaceted debate surrounding the use of nudges in European Law and Economics. Nudging is a tool aimed at altering people's behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any option or significantly changing economic incentives. It can be used to help people make better decisions to influence human behaviour without forcing them because they can opt out. Its use has sparked lively debates in academia as well as in the public sphere. This book explores who decides which behaviour is desired. It looks at whether or not the state has sufficient information for debiasing, and if there are clear-cut boundaries between paternalism, manipulation and indoctrination. The first part of this anthology discusses the foundations of nudging theory and the problems associated, as well as outlining possible solutions to the problems raised. The second part is devoted to the wide scope of applications of nudges from contract law, tax law and health claim regulations, among others. This volume is a result of the flourishing annual Law and Economics Conference held at the law faculty of the University of Lucerne. The conferences have been instrumental in establishing a strong and ever-growing Law and Economics movement in Europe, providing unique insights in the challenges faced by Law and Economics when applied in European legal traditions.

This book offers a unique insight into the world of standard-setting organizations (SSOs)' IPR policies and the role they play in balancing the interests of innovators and implementers, vis-a-vis the development of standards. Since the beginning of the 21st century, there have been quite a few questions asked of the SSOs as to the legality of their IPR policies and the enforceability of disclosure and licensing obligations enshrined therein. That, coupled with disagreements over the appropriate royalty rate and royalty base, has resulted in extensive litigation between innovators and implementers, especially across the Atlantic. The Book, in keeping the USA and EU as the two primary jurisdictions, offers a comprehensive analysis of the disclosure and licensing obligations under SSO IPR policies, with strong theoretical foundations justifying their imposition. More specifically, it offers a bird's eye view of the various facets of disclosure and licensing, ranging from non-disclosure and transparency on one hand, to the determination of FRAND on the other. While much has been said about the benefits arising out of collaborative standard-setting, disputes involving SEP licensing have not been limited to the courts, and have attracted a significant amount of scrutiny by competition/antitrust agencies. The Book provides an elaborate account of the anti-competitive concerns surrounding standard-setting, and further documents the role of courts and competition agencies in ensuring good faith licensing negotiations between the SEP holders and implementers. Despite largely focusing on SEP licensing disputes in the USA and EU, the Book also offers a dedicated chapter on standard-setting in the Indian context. The readers are presented with an in-depth discussion on the contrasting approaches adopted by the courts and the Competition Commission of India (CCI), in addressing disputes involving SEPs. The said discussion is supplemented by a careful analysis of the SEP licensing guidelines to have emerged out of other implementer-oriented economies like China and Japan. By doing so, the Book offers readers the opportunity to study and compare the SEP licensing framework in developed, as well as developing economies. SSO IPR policies play an integral role in the development of standards, and with technologies such as the Internet of Things and 5G knocking on the doors, the Book makes for a valuable study on the nuances of standard-setting through the lens of SSOs, and will find takers among a wide reader base of students, researchers, academics, law practitioners, corporates, and policy makers.

Exploring the relationship and interaction between economic interests and normative non-trade values, this book argues that the emergence and development of non-trade values is based on a complex dialectic interaction between selfish economic interests and normative values, and examines how their structural interdependence has given rise to a remarkable evolution in international trade. Conceiving this relationship as an intricate dialectic one that is neither purely value-driven, nor purely economic-interest-driven, it addresses the emergence, function, and role of non-trade values in international trade with a synthetizing approach and explores the results of their interaction in international economic intercourse. Approaching the non-trade issues of trade in a holistic manner, the book demonstrates that trade can operate smoothly only if it is framed by an architecture of normative value standards and international trade liberalization has reached the level where further development calls for cooperation also in fields that, at first glance, may appear to be non-trade in nature.

This book challenges the quasi-consensus that Latin American countries dominate global homicide rankings mainly due to the illegal nature of drug production and trafficking. Building on US scholarship that looks at the role of social exclusion and discriminatory policing in drug violence, the authors of this volume show that the association between illegality and violence cannot be divorced from the inequality that prevails in those countries. This book looks in detail at the functioning of drug markets in Recife, the largest metropolitan area in Brazil's North-East and, over the last 25 years, the heart of the country's most violent metropolitan area. Building on extensive interviews and field work, the authors map out the city's drug markets and explore the reasons why some of those markets are violent, and others are not. The analysis focuses on the micromechanics of each market, looking at consumption patterns and at the workings of retail sales and distribution. Such a systematic micro-level comparative analysis of the workings of Latin American drug markets is simply not available elsewhere in current literature. These findings point to significant gaps in current understandings of the link between illegal markets and violence, and they illuminate the need to factor in the way in which those markets are nested in exclusionary social contexts.

The birth of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its related agreements at the close of the Uruguay Round marked a profound change in the framework of principles governing world trade. The author argues that the establishment of the WTO as a unique transnational legislature in fact produced a fully integrated trade constitution capable of constructing, universalising and enforcing substantive norms of law. The changes in the world trading system amounted to a significant shift in power from the national to the supranational level, with the result that member states are now disposed to exercise their sovereignty collectively in those areas of commercial law that require global co-ordination. The author further argues that a significant factor in the institutional reform of the international trading system was the advent of the information economy, and the resulting imperative to protect intellectual property. In this respect the work lays the foundation for an empirical understanding of the WTO constitution as a response to the logic of intellectual property law. From a social perspective, the book explains how the collective exercise of sovereignty in the new world order reflects the emergence of a new transnational civil society in which corporations, non-governmental organisations and voluntary associations are demanding a voice in global lawmaking. In examining the limits of the emerging trade constitution and the challenges it is likely to face, the analysis concludes that to find true legitimacy, the WTO and its institutions must find ways of conforming to the democratic principles of accountability, transparency and representation.

The legal arrangements applying to the economic and commercial aspects of managing natural resources have traditionally been unrelated to those applying to the management of ecosystems and the protection of the environment. However, the interface between what have increasingly been described as economic law and environmental law has become an issue of both practical and theoretical importance at all levels of the legal system. Dr Felicity Deane's global analysis of the relationship between emissions trading law and the law of the World Trade Organization is both timely and important. She skillfully reviews the range of complex legal issues. The result is a significant contribution to the legal literature.' - Douglas Fisher, Queensland University of Technology, AustraliaEmissions trading is an economic legal framework designed to address the global environmental crisis of climate change. This book analyses the broader impacts of these frameworks - particularly the relationship between emissions trading schemes and the WTO. Felicity Deane focuses primarily on the rules of the WTO as a tool to demonstrate where the boundaries exist for acceptable interface with international trade. She explores the meaning of goods and products, services, subsidies and border adjustments within the context of the WTO rules and considers the impacts of these definitions on emissions trading frameworks. Academics and students with an interest in the WTO and the convergence of trade and environment will find this an insightful book. The points raised will also be useful to legal professionals, economists and policymakers involved in emissions trading practices.

This book explores current issues regarding the regulation of various economic sectors, theoretically and empirically, discussing both neoclassical and behavioural economics approaches to regulation. Regulation has become one of the main determinants of modern economies, and virtually every sector is subject to general laws and regulations as well as specific rules and standards. A traditional argument to justify regulatory interventions is the promotion of public interests. Fixing markets that lack competition, balancing information asymmetries, internalising externalities, mitigating systemic risks, and protecting consumers from irrational behaviour are frequently invoked to complement the invisible hand of the market with the visible hand of the state.However, regulations can lead to unintended consequences, and serve the interests of powerful private interest groups rather than the public interest and social welfare. In addition, new insights from behavioural economics question the traditional regulatory approaches, most prominently in attitudes towards consumers. Furthermore, digitalisation and technological innovation in general present new challenges in terms of both the type of regulation and the regulatory process.Part I of this book discusses various theoretical approaches to the economic analysis of regulations, while Part II looks at specific applications of the law and economics of regulation.

The past few decades have witnessed a growth in the importance of services in the economy, yet until the 1980s, scholarly literature on the expanding role of trade in services in the world economy remained scarce. This timely research review, edited by a leading analyst in the field, brings together seminal works on the WTO and trade in services published in the last twenty-five years. Areas covered in this important set include the determinants and patterns of trade in services, services in regional integration agreements and the GATS. This book will be of immense value to scholars and practitioners interested in this evolving and increasingly relevant field of study.

The principle of national treatment, or the non-discrimination clause, applies across many fields of international economic law. This book provides a unique horizontal examination of the principle as it applies within international trade law, international investment law and intellectual property law, whilst also offering challenging and perceptive views on commercial practices, trade law and policy.Combining perspectives from practitioners, academics and members of the judiciary, the book is the first to cover the national treatment principle across the whole field of international economic law - including not only in the domain of WTO law, but also in treaty and contractual settings involving investment and in intellectual property law. It also provides practical insights regarding the application of the principle relevant to inter-state relations, state-investor relations and in the context of intellectual property protection. With its comprehensive interdisciplinary coverage, this book will be of special interest to academics, students and practitioners interested in international economic law and trade, international investment law, and intellectual property law and policy. Contributors: A.E. Appleton, R. Brauneis, L. Choukroune, D. Collins, T. Cottier, L. Ehring, J. Flett, C. Heath, A. Kamperman Sanders, D. Prevost, S.J. Schaafsma, L. Schneller

This book addresses the lack of binding multi-lateral international agreement on cartels, through analysis of trials and failures. It also suggests strategic approaches to overcome current standstills. In addition, the book contrasts international agreement on cartels with inter-governmental commodity agreement which has been developed separately through international law. Through this project, the author puts forth that successful international law on cartels needs to reflect the interests and arguments of developing countries.

When is international patent law cooperation and harmonization welfare-enhancing? What is the role of international institutions - WIPO and the WTO - in furthering such harmonization? This book explores these questions from a global welfarist, rationalist perspective. It grounds its analysis in innovation theory and a examination of patent law and prosecution, incorporating the uncertainty of patent law's impact on welfare at a detailed level, dynamic changes, the skewed nature of patent value and the difficulty of textually capturing patent concepts. Using tools from new institutional economics, it explores future design implications for international institutions, analyzing grounds for international cooperation as collective action problems and applying historical, political and transaction cost analyses. Academics, students and practitioners interested in international economic law, specifically in respect of patents, innovation and intellectual property, the TRIPs Agreement, the WTO and WIPO will find this book essential. It will also prove insightful for researchers whose primary background is in international relations or international political economy, but are seeking an introduction to the patent and intellectual property field. Contents: Introduction Part I: Welfare-Enhancing Harmonization 1. Domestic Patent Law, Autarchic Analysis 2. The Value of Diversity: Relaxed Autarchy 3. Bases for Harmonization Part II: International Patent Law Institutions 4. History 5. International Patent Cooperation as Collective Action 6. Institutional Analysis: WIPO and the WTO Conclusions and Implications References

This book is a compilation of contributions exploring the impact of the European Treaty provisions regarding state aid on Member States' legislation and administrative practice in the area of business taxation. Starting from a detailed analysis of the European Courts' jurisprudence on Art.107 TFEU the authors lay out fundamental issues - e.g. on legal concepts like "advantage", "selectivity" and "discrimination" - and explore current problems - in particular policy and practice regarding "harmful" tax competition within the European Union. This includes the Member States' Code of Conduct on business taxation, the limits to anti-avoidance legislation and the options for legislation on patent boxes. The European Commission's recent findings on preferential "rulings" are discussed as well as the general relationship between international tax law, transfer pricing standards and the European prohibition on selective fiscal aids.

National debts incurred by illegitimate regimes against the best interests of the citizens is a serious problem of international economics and politics. These sovereign debts, often referred to as odious debts, deplete the public purse and create an ongoing financial liability that serves to constrain investment and economic growth, and conspires to keep millions in poverty. This important and timely book explains the legal principles and politics involved in the issue of odious debts, and sovereign debt arrangements more generally. The author goes beyond abstract arguments and proposes legal rules and international regulation that should be put in place to create the right incentives to stop the transmission of odious debts. Her proposal is for a registration scheme for sovereign debt, and the imposition of positive duties on financiers who provide loans to sovereign borrowers. Sovereign Finance and the Poverty of Nations will appeal to students, academics, debt activists, policymakers, international finance practitioners and anyone with a general interest in sovereign finance affairs.

In light of new global challenges for international cooperation and coordination, such as the revival of protectionism, surge of populism, or energy-related issues, this volume highlights possible scenarios for the future of Global Economic Governance (GEG). The contributing authors analyze the substance of GEG as a normative framework for resolving collective action issues and promoting cross-border co-ordination and co-operation in the provision or exchange of goods, money, services and technical expertise in the world economy. Furthermore, the book examines drivers of fundamental shifts in global economic steering and covers topics such as power and authority shifts in the global governance architecture, technological and energy-related challenges, and the role of the G20 and BRICS in shaping global economic governance. "This book provides a very timely and nuanced account of the challenges facing the established global order." Andrew F. Cooper (Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo) "This valuable collection from a new generation of innovative scholars of global economic governance offers insights from a broad range of theoretical approaches to the central policy issues of the day" John Kirton (Director of the Global Governance Program, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto)

The book offers a comprehensive perspective on the highly topical issue of protecting and promoting labour standards in international economic law and the globalized economy. For the purpose of an in-depth analysis of both the specific and the fundamental aspects in this regard, it combines views from specialized academics of the legal and political sciences as well as experienced practitioners. The contributions to this book do not only reveal recurring obstacles but also point at best practices and potential for synergies, providing important guidance for future research and practice in international economic and labour law and policy.