Case: Covid-19 Vaccines: The role of international patents

Involved Parties: Vaccine producers, governments, public

Competition Policies under asssessment: Patents: Are they adequate?

Outcomes to assess: R&D incentives, profits in short- and long-run, subsidies, government

For the case study investigation, your approach should be similar to that recommended for the Minor Report (refer to its guide), but this time you will have to add elements of theory in your analysis. To achieve this, it is recommended that follow this presentation format: 1. Statement of the issue, 2. Summary of Relevant Theory Tools, 3. Analysis of the issue, and 4. Conclusion. A key aspect of your summary of relevant theoretical tools is that these tools should be adapted to the case study issue and be relevant. You may consider simple modifications or re-interpretations of the models covered in class that you can find in the literature, or propose your own. Your presentation of theoretical tools has to be succinct, and You can assume that the reader is an economist who needs to refresh her/his/their mind about the theories. Summarise key assumptions and present the package of tools using no more than 10 equations and 3 theoretical diagrams or tables. In the next section you will need to use these tools in your analysis. It is recommended that you write the summanry of tools after you finalise the analysis. The theoretical tools that are available for you to use are those covered in the second part of the unit. Namely, the eligible theories are: - Price discrimination, two-part tariff, monopolistic competition, Hotelling's rule, and product differentiation. . Imperfect information: Asymmetric information and decisions under uncertainty. s General equilibrium. s ''Welfare theory. - Externalities. . Provision of a public good. = \\oting. = Coordination games. You may choose any combination of the abowve theories. How many you choose is not important, what matters is the depth of the analysis. However, if you apply too many theories you will not gain depth, so it is advisable that you apply no more than three of the above theories. MNote that your assignment guality will strongly depend on your choice of case study and theoretical tools, so itis strongly recommended that you take your time and consider options before you commit and embark into the writing