Michael Finger of the World Bank and Philip Schuler of the University of Maryland estimate that implementing commitments to improve trade procedures and establish technical and intellectual-property standards can cost more than a year's development budget for the poorest countries.

ECONOMIST: Trade and development

More often than not, these have been the subject of technical and intellectual exportation from the countries of the North, where they were designed and used, towards developing countries.

UNESCO: Measuring development - How science and politics work together