Standards as a platform for innovation and learning in the global economy: a case study of Chilean salmon farming industry

Conventionally, standards are considered as a governance tool in the production system in a one-directional and hierarchical relationship between foreign trans-national corporations (TNCs) or global buyers on one hand and subsidiaries and producers on the other. They were considered as transmitting necessary specifications of goods (codified knowledge) to the producers. Despite the fact that this process begins with a one-way power relationship and associated flow of knowledge and standards, such one-way flows may become consolidated into two-way interlinkages when power balances themselves reverse with the development of collective capability in catching-up countries. In such a context, standards increasingly act as a catalyst for creating collective interfaces where diverse knowledge from horizontal and vertical relationships (local and global, tacit and codified, and buyer and producer) intercept and converge to promote interactions and learning for those involved. The Chilean salmon farming industry is examined to understand how standards compliance enhanced collective capability.Standards, Industrial standards, Capability, Governance, Fishing industry, Chile, Catching up

Natural Resource Industries, ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ and the Case of Chilean Salmon Farming

Chilean salmon farming has been considered as an outstanding example of success after growing at double digit rates for more than twenty years. While the expansion was indeed dramatic, it came at the expense of severe sanitary and environmental deterioration. The outbreak in 2008 of the infectious salmon anaemia, a viral disease that kills salmon, but does not affect humans, has made this utterly clear. The overexploitation of the ‘commons’ upon which the industry has grown and the lack of an adequate regulatory mechanism to monitor adverse environmental effects contributed to this disaster, which now threatens the future of the industry and the country benefiting from its natural comparative advantage for salmon farming. The paper shows that activities based on the exploitation of a common pool resource require quite a different analytical approach than the one conventional neoclassical theory offers us for the understanding of firm and industry behaviour. This study shows that industries of this sort enjoy unique location-specific conditions requiring specific know how, R&D, and strong public-private cooperation in order to attain environmentally sustainable long term growth.- Chilean salmon farming, common pool resources, natural resource based industry, ‘tragedy of the commons’

Compliance with the private standards and capacity building of national institutions under globalization: new agendas for developing countries?

There are two assumptions regarding regulatory instruments under the globalizing economy. These are: (1) increasing role of private standards in shaping the economic activities of developing countries; and (2) diminishing role of national institutions in "open" and "liberal" markets. In other words it was considered that global private standards would eventually replace already weak or absent national and local institutions in developing countries. The purpose of our paper is to suggest an alternative interpretation to this widely held view about national regulations and institutions in developing countries under the "new standard regime" in the food and agricultural sector where the regulatory framework is traditionally stronger at national level. The role of national regulatory institutions is considered to diminish as the countries compete in the "open" and "liberal" global market since firms are obliged to comply with global private standards. Instead, we have observed cases in developing countries which demonstrate an opposite phenomenon. In these cases, the local and national institutional capacity had actually being enhanced through learning in the "open" and "liberal" market at global level. In other words, we discovered that while the global (private) standards intend to control and shape the economic activities in developing countries through value chains, the local institutions also were transformed in a co-evolutionary manner to sustain the viability of existing local economic activities. This paper hence tries to illustrate our argument with cases from developing countries to demonstrate how the process of adapting to survive in the "new regime" compliance to global (private) standards may have positive impacts on national and local institutions. Moreover, we intend to highlight some common features of transitions which are taking place in regulatory frameworks within the context of a global "new standards regime" (public-private regulations). We will discuss the following cases of standards compliance and their impacts on enhancement of national and local capabilities: (1) the salmon farming industry in Chile, (2) and the fresh agricultural products in Mexico. These cases illustrate the complex interactions between global standards (both private and public-private) and national and local institutions. As the cases are slightly different, the comparison brings about interesting dimensions in illustrating institutional capacity building "trajectories" from both private and non-private standards.Standards, Role of National Institutions, Capacity Building, Latin America, Agri-food

Standards compliance as an alternative learning opportunity under globalization in Latin America

globalization, technological infrastructures, certification, capability, Latin America, Chile

Features of ecosystems to advance disruptive inclusive innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals: Five global case studies

The transformation of sociotechnical systems is considered necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. However, this transformation process is inhibited by institutional inertia of the public sector, vested interests of the private sector, routine habits of individuals, and increased complexity of globalized activities. While policies to stimulate the transition exist, these policies and pathways are still insufficient. Meanwhile, there are many individual private initiatives taking place to advance the societal agenda. Although these are still isolated actions of new actors, they have the potential to become broader movements. This study takes an inductive approach to examining factors that enhance the generation of new value networks with inclusive outcomes reflecting a model of “disruptive inclusive innovation.” Five cases are examined that involve venture capital, an incubator, venture companies, and a social impact fund. The study notes that a common feature underlying the ability of these organizations to generate high impact is the creation of tailored ecosystems. These activities are self-generated without much government support. Therefore, examining these as “signals” provide hints regarding how policy can be formulated to better complement and link relatively isolated cases of success so that private initiatives can be scaled-up and well-integrated with transformative policy efforts.JEL Classification Codes: O35, O38, M1

Innovation Indicators: for a critical reflection on their use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

It has been widely recognized that innovation is an important driver of economic growth. Many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) have adopted innovation indicators to monitor innovation performance and to evaluate the impact of innovation policies. This paper argues that innovation indicators should be customized to the different socio-economic structures of LMICs. For this, the definition of innovation needs to be relevant to the multitude of innovation actors and processes in LMICs. LMICs also need to build competences not only in the construction of innovation indicators within their statistical systems, but also in the use of these indicators by among others policy makers. Especially as the fourth edition of the Oslo Manual (OM 2018) has broadened the scope of “innovation”, opening up policy space for LMICs to accommodate the diversity in their national systems of innovation and to develop accompanying innovation indicators.JEL Classification Codes: O38, O32, O29, P47http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/iizuka-michiko

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor associated with neurofibromatosis type 1, with metastasis to the heart: a case report

A rare case is presented of a 61-year-old man with a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor associated with neurofibromatosis type 1, with metastasis to the heart. The primary tumor originated in the right thigh in 1982. Since then, the patient has had repeated local recurrences in spite of repeated surgical treatment and adjuvant chemotherapy. He has developed previous metastases of the lung and heart. The patient died of cardiac involvement

Early uptake and continuous accumulation of thallium-201 chloride in a benign mixed tumor of soft tissue: Case Report

A case of benign mixed tumor of the soft tissue in a 64-year-old Japanese male is presented. He noticed a painless, elastic hard mass sized 3 cm in the right knee, which gradually grew larger and harder in the last 5 years. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a mass lesion embedded in the subcutaneous tissue with low and high signal intensity at T1- and T2-weighted images, respectively. Tl-201 scintigraphy showed an early uptake of Tl-201 within the lesion at 10 minutes after injection, which was slightly decreased but still continued at 2 hours later. The patient underwent a resection of tumor, and the pathological diagnosis was a benign mixed tumor of soft tissue without high vascularity, characterized by histological features similar to pleomorphic adenomas in the salivary glands. Immunohistochemical study proved expression of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase of tumor cells. Overexpression of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase of the tumor might be responsible for the early uptake of Tl-201, and poor vascular structure in this tumor might lead to continuous accumulation. The Tl-201 scintigraphic features of mixed tumor of soft tissue are assessed to resemble those of malignant soft tissue tumors

Innovations for Sustainability: Pathways to an efficient and post-pandemic future

3rd Report prepared by The World in 2050 initiativ