Title: Can a focus on breakthrough technologies improve the performance of international environmental agreements?
Description: "In a recent paper, Barrett (2006) reaches the conclusion that in general the answer to the question in the title is no.  We show in this paper that a focus on the R&D phase in the development of breakthrough technologies changes the picture.  The stability of international treaties improves and thus the possibility of realizing benefits of cooperation"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.