Global scientific research commons under the Nagoya Protocol: Towards a collaborative economy model for the sharing of basic research assets

This paper aims to get a better understanding of the motivational and transaction cost features of
building global scientific research commons, with a view to contributing to the debate on the design of
appropriate policy measures under the recently adopted Nagoya Protocol. For this purpose, the paper
analyses the results of a world-wide survey of managers and users of microbial culture collections, which
focused on the role of social and internalized motivations, organizational networks and external
incentives in promoting the public availability of upstream research assets. Overall, the study confirms
the hypotheses of the social production model of information and shareable goods, but it also shows the
need to complete this model. For the sharing of materials, the underlying collaborative economy in
excess capacity plays a key role in addition to the social production, while for data, competitive pressures
amongst scientists tend to play a bigger role.