Click here to view original web page at neweconomics.org
Though focused on the situation in Britain, this research highlights the fundamental failure of many supposed public-private partnerships both in Canada and elsewhere. Government, on behalf of the public funds primary research, often shoulders the lion’s share of the risk burden, while private interests retain exclusive patents and all of the equity and profits. No private venture funds would behave this way and neither should our governments. This post outlines a more sensible and fiscally prudent approach. It would allow patents from discoveries and technical advances that are government funded to be shared more widely and for government’s to receive equity stakes or profit shares relative to their risk taking efforts. – David Thornley
“The UK public sector spends over £14.4bn every year, directly and indirectly, funding research and development (R&D) to address some of the major challenges we face. The government does not get anything direct in return for its investment – neither an equity stake in the company nor ownership of any intellectual property (IP)… What this leads to is a system where companies and innovations have been partially funded by public money, but the public gets nothing directly in return, despite taking on the risk of investment. […]
