Abstract
Given the significant expenditures on health research around the world in recent years, it is clear that governments are influencing the pace, direction, and scope of health research. Less recognized are the numerous other ways that governments intervene in markets for health innovation, be it through incentives for private-sector R&D investment, market and biosafety regulation and as an important end-user of health innovations. This chapter considers the public policy rationale for what the role of government should be in health innovation and investigates what the actual role of government has been across countries. It first examines the theoretical role for government in spurring innovation and scientific advancement in general. It then moves to the specific case of health innovation, presenting the major reasons why governments actively intervene in this sector and how the health sector differs from other innovation sectors. A significant portion of this chapter focuses on the conduct of health-related R&D around the world because of the sizeable impact R&D has on health innovation. However, we also review how government influences health innovation through its role as market regulator and by its effect on the end-use of innovations. Finally, outcomes of health innovation and government's role in fostering these outcomes are reviewed.
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