Business
CSR in Developing Countries: Advocacy and Strategy
BusinessWeek has a cover story on CSR, Beyond the Green Corporation, suggesting the ethical, responsible corporation is no longer the stuff of fiction. It is very much here and while not mainstream, is certainly a visible minority.
The article may be a bit too optimistic in that prognosis. It rests on restating the same few examples, [...]
Financial Inclusion in India: Trends Beyond Microfinance
Contrary to popular belief the reach of microfinance in India remains limited. Both market and policy reforms are necessary in order to correct this, expand microcredit, and sustain it through deposit growth. The resulting industry and policy moves may prove important for other countries on a similar trajectory.
Vaccine Demand Forecasting: Creating Markets and Incentives
The PSD Blog and CGD’s Global Health Policy Blog mention a Scientific American article on the need for and initiatives to forecast the demand for vaccines. The problem this work addresses is what happens in the absence of well-defined markets:
Unpredictable demand creates a three-way catch-22 problem, as pointed out in a 2002 study commissioned by [...]
Entrepreneurship in the US and India: Competitive Advantage
Duke University reports that immigrants are behind 25% of the startups created in the USA between 1995 and 2005. More striking than the total number, however, was the dominance of Indian entrepreneurs. They founded 26% of tech startups – more than those created by immigrants from the four next biggest sources combined – UK, China, [...]
Indian Pharma: Balancing Patent Rights and Obligations
The ICTSD is carrying an analysis of the post-TRIPS generic pharmaceutical sector in India (there is also a report on Thailand). For a mere industry analysis the report has little new to offer, as a previous report by the CDS has already offered a more extensive analysis.
However, it is an extremely lucid case study that [...]
Technology for Development: Obstacles & Solutions
I don’t know how, but Techies for Development found my blog. Surprising, because for someone that has extensive experience in the field, I’ve largely avoided looking at technology for development. Still, this blog is a good wakeup call and started an interesting thought process.
In choosing not to join the loud debate on Technology for Development [...]
Novartis Challenges Indian Patent Law
I seem to have missed this. Since May, Novartis has been involved in a legal challenge to India’s Patent Act, which was changed in 2005 to make it TRIPS compliant (see Berne Declaration release for timeline, and coverage from IPMed).
The genesis of the issue is the rejection of Novartis’ patent application for its anti-cancer drug [...]
India: Challenge and Opportunity of a Lifetime
Last week I had the opportunity to attend three events in Delhi – the 3rd Sat Pal Mittal Memorial Lecture by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chair of the Planning Commission, on the 11th plan; the India-Japan Energy Forum organized by TERI and NEDO; and the London School of Economics (LSE) Asia Forum. The timing of [...]
