Transfers

Abstract

In science policy the decision-making process is very complex. Transfers of skills and techniques influence political decisions. Transfers are at one and the same time political ends and objects of policy. There are many ways to achieve a transfer and they go far beyond the traditional approach of transmission from rich countries to poor countries. Transnational Units (UTN) store skills and techniques and redistribute them according to their interests and a "center-periphery" process. They control the transfer agreements and their applications. The OECD has modeled nine different forms of transfer. The result shows the complexity of the political decision-making process that involves flows, fluctuations of decision, and timely decisions.