Files
Abstract
The role of foreign direct investment and intellectual property rights in economic development is discussed
widely in the literature. However, an integrating framework is missing to assess the role of FDI and IPR for
agricultural development. This paper establishes a framework to assess the role of FDI and IPR for seed sector
development in developing countries. The impact assessment is carried out with a System Dynamics model that
shows local capacity development to develop new seed varieties in the scenario of a multinational company
penetrating the market and spillovers occurring. Simulation runs reveal the impact of IPR on the quantity
technology transferred by multinational companies and on spillovers. The development path of the local
industry depends crucially on the capacity of the local seed sector when the multinational company enters. A
pattern for seed sector development is derived.