Universities and public research institutes play a key role in enabling the application of scientific breakthroughs and innovations in the marketplace. Many countries - developed and developing alike - have implemented national strategies to support the application or commercialization of knowledge produced by public research organizations. Universities and public research institutes have introduced practices to support these activities, for instance by including knowledge transfer to promote innovation as a core part of their mission. As a result, a vital question for policymakers is how to improve the efficiency of these knowledge transfer practices to help maximize innovation-driven growth and/or to seek practical solutions to critical societal challenges. This book aims to develop a conceptual framework to evaluate knowledge transfer practices and outcomes; to improve knowledge transfer metrics, surveys and evaluation frameworks; and to generate findings on what works and what does not, and to propose related policy lessons. This book is also available as Open Access.

The informal economy represents a significant share of output and employment in many developing countries. Yet little is known about this hidden engine of innovation. This pioneering study addresses some crucial questions, including: what is the role of the informal sector in economic development? How does innovation occur in the informal economy? How does it spread, who are the key actors and what impacts does it have? How do inventors and entrepreneurs in the informal economy reap benefits from their innovations? What stops informal sector innovation from scaling up? How can informal sector innovation in developing countries be measured? And what policies might support informal sector innovation and improve its impacts? This book will stimulate further work on this crucial but under-researched subject. As well as rich empirical evidence from several groundbreaking studies, it includes conceptual and methodological tools and policy recommendations to help researchers and policy-makers understand innovation in the informal economy.

The rapid development of the Internet has led to a growing potential for electronic trade in digital content like movies, music and software. As a result, there is a need for a global trade framework applicable to such digitally-delivered content products. Yet, digital trade is currently not explicitly recognised by the trade rules and obligations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This study provides a complete analysis of the related challenges in the ongoing WTO Doha Negotiations to remedy this state of affairs. It elaborates on the required measures in the multilateral negotiations to achieve market access for digital content and examines the obstacles that lie on the path to reach consensus between the United States and the European Communities. Negotiation parameters analysed include the current US and EC regulatory approach to audiovisual and information society services and the evolution of their applicable trade policy jurisdiction. Finally, this examination takes stock of how the Doha Negotiations and parallel US-driven preferential trade agreement have so far contributed to securing free trade in digital content. As new technologies are an increasingly prominent source of trade dispute, this book is an assessment of how WTO Members can maintain the relevance of the multilateral trade framework in a changing technological and economic environment. "This important work highlights the missed opportunity in on-going global trade talks -- the failure to pursue a free trade framework for digitally delivered content. If not corrected, one can readily imagine the rise of discriminatory barriers to digital trade of the type that have dogged global trade flows for years, and a failed recognition by the WTO of the reality of modern commerce. The WTO should, as the author argues, put a "spotlight" on electronic trade, and move forward in a comprehensive fashion." Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, Former United States Trade Representative "Wunsch-Vincent provides a comprehensive analysis of the challenges to establish a liberal trade regime for trade in digital products. This book will become an important point-of-reference for anybody interested in e-commerce and the WTO." Carlos A. Primo Braga, Senior Adviser, International Trade Department, The World Bank