Intellectual property and the market economy: the case of biotechnology.

Summary What is the market? It is the place where suppliers and buyers meet. In standard economic theory, the ideal model is that of pure and perfect competition. In this model, the firm competes and sells its product at its marginal cost of production, which maximizes social welfare and is therefore the best situation for consumers. But is this the best solution for a developing society? Not sure! This is what we will try to show, on the one hand by studying the relationship between incentives to innovate and markets and, on the other hand, by looking at the links between the evolution of intellectual property rights and the increasing complexity of market access.