R&D promotion policies of developing countries and fairness in international trade relations

Abstract

Research and development (R&D) promotion policies are critical for economic development in the sense that they contribute to technical progress. Although it is true that policy space is restricted under the World Trade Organization (WTO) system, there are still some R&D promotion policy measures made available to developing countries. It is thus necessary for developing countries to utilize such available measures. In addition to explaining the R&D promotion measures available under the current WTO regulations, I provide suggestions for modifying the Uruguay Round Subsidies Code with respect to the R&D promotion policies of developing countries from the viewpoint of "distributional fairness" in international trade relations. © 2015, Journal of Economic Issues/Association for Evolutionary Economics.