On patent legislation, patent enforcement and economic growth: empirical evidence from developed and developing countries

This study investigates the long-term effects of national patent legislation and enforcement systems on the economic development of 42 countries. The econometric methodology that has been adopted involves the estimation of three different models, namely, the pooled, the fixed effects and the random effects models whilst the specification of the economic development regressions is a variant of the standard growth specifications encountered in relevant studies. The empirical analysis is conducted in the context of the time period following the imposition of trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs). The results show that the extension and strengthening of patent legislation resulting from TRIPs have had a negative impact on economic development. In contrast, stronger levels of patent enforcement have had a positive effect overall and particularly for developing economies while negative for developed economies

Intellectual property rights and innovation: A panel analysis

YesWe investigate the relationship between intellectual property rights (IPR) and innovation, for a panel of 48 countries between 1998-2011. Prior empirical studies mainly focus on strength of patent regulations largely ignoring the enforcement of such laws in practice. We employ a new index that accounts for the enforcement related component of the patent system and the Ginarte and Park (1997) index of patent regulatory strength. We thus include two crucial elements of a national patent system, the de jure position relating to book law and IPR regulations, and the de facto position relating to IPR enforcement. We consider nonlinearities between IPR and innovation, and we find that both nonlinearities and the enforcement aspect are significant in explaining the relationship between innovation and IPR systems

The effect of patent enforcement strength and FDI on economic growth

Purpose This paper aims to study the effects of the strength of patent enforcement on economic growth following the signing of the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the role of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in mediating and enhancing this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Following a generalized method of moments methodology, use is made of a new longitudinal index measuring the strength of enforcement-related aspects of patent systems. Findings Stronger levels of patent enforcement have a significant positive effect on the economic growth of both developed and developing countries. Importantly, inward FDI flows have a mediating role in positively boosting this effect for all countries and particularly for developed countries. Originality/value This is the first empirical study of the role of the strength of patent enforcement (“law in action”) in stimulating economic growth, as previous empirical studies have focused on the effect of the strength of patent law protection (“law on the books”). The failure in the past to allow for “law in action” was mainly due to the lack of available data that could proxy for the strength of patent enforcement levels in a country. This study utilizes a newly published, longitudinal index that captures the strength of the enforcement-related aspects of patent systems

Does multilateral lending aid capital accumulation? Role of intellectual capital and institutional quality

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd This paper investigates whether multilateral lending is more effective in accumulating capital in countries with a higher level of innovation. Specifically, we examine the role of the World Bank or IMF financing on capital stock using data from 175 countries over the period 1970–2017, while considering different types of long-term external flows namely FDI and debt. We find that FDI as a long-term inflow influences domestic capital stock positively, but non-G7 countries, even with a higher level of innovation, are unable to benefit from greater FDI flows in boosting their capital stock, which we explain considering institutional quality differences across countries. With regard to foreign debt flows, the multilateral lending only benefits a borrowing country if it has greater level of intellectual capital or if those funds are used in financing innovative activities. Unlike short-term IMF loans, as World Bank lending tends to be directed more towards long-term development goals, they help boost productive capital. Exploiting a policy intervention with TRIPs agreement, the paper further uncovers that countries with better institutional quality and greater innovation benefit from multilateral lending in generating higher level of capital stock following TRIPs implementation

Dynamic marketing capabilities, foreign ownership modes, sub-national locations and the performance of foreign affiliates in developing economies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of dynamic marketing capabilities (DMC), foreign ownership modes and sub-national locations on the performance of foreign owned affiliates (FOAs) in developing economies. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a sample of 254 FOAs in Indian manufacturing sector (covering the period of 2000-2008 leading to 623 firm-year observations), the empirical paper adopts the panel data regression approach. Findings – The study confirms the significant importance of DMC to assist FOAs to gain better sales performance in an emerging market such as India. The findings indicate that Wholly Owned Foreign Affiliates (WOFAs) have better sales performance than International Joint Venture (IJV), and Majority-owned IJV (MAIJV) perform better than Minority-owned IJV (MIIJV) in the Indian manufacturing sector. The results confirm that effective deployment of DMC leads to better sales performance in WOFAs and to some extent in MAIJVs compared to MIIJVs. Perhaps the most interesting finding is that developing DMC in non-Metropolitan areas is associated with higher sales growth than in Metropolitan locations. Originality/value – The study contributes to the literature by examining the impact of DMC on performance of FOA by considering the organised manufacturing sector in a large and fast growing developing economy. In addition, the results for the moderating effects provide novel evidence of the conditions under which DMC of FOA interacts with different ownership modes and influence firm performance

Factors contributing to the strength of national patent protection and enforcement after TRIPS

YesIn this paper we study the determinants of the strength of patent enforcement in 43 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) between 1998 and 2011, a period after the signing of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. We do so by building on and expanding the seminal work of Ginarte and Park (1997) on the pre-TRIPS determinants of patent rights in the years 1960-1990. We find that in the years after TRIPS was signed, the strength of patent enforcement of a country is positively determined by two variables that signify the usage of the patent and intellectual property system, and the number of patent and trademark applications. We also find that the level of research and development expenditure, the quality of human capital, and the level of development of a country have positive effects on the strength of the enforcement of patent law in practice. Intellectual property rights enforcement is one of the key investment-related policies included in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development. Identifying the determinants of strong patent systems will help policymakers at the national and supranational levels to design and implement effective policies that strengthen national patent systems, thereby enhancing economic benefits such as greater levels of commercialization of intangible assets and greater levels of international trade and investment

IPR Law Protection and Enforcement and the Effect on Horizontal Productivity Spillovers from Inward FDI to Domestic Firms: A Meta-Analysis

YesWe study the role of the strength of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) law protection and enforcement in influencing horizontal productivity spillovers from inward FDI to domestic firms in host countries. While most WTO countries adopted strong IPR legislation due to exogenous pressure resulting from the signing of the Trade-Related Aspects of IPR (TRIPS) agreement, public IPR enforcement strength continues to vary significantly between countries. We meta-analyse 49 studies and find that public IPR enforcement strength has a direct positive effect on horizontal productivity spillovers from inward FDI to domestic firms and a negative moderating effect on the relationship between IPR law protection strength and horizontal productivity spillovers from inward FDI to domestic firms

The characteristics of intellectual property rights regimes: How formal and informal institutions affect outward FDI location

This study examines the institutional arrangements that define the characteristics of national legal systems that are used to protect intellectual property (IP) assets embedded in outward FDI. The focus of the study is on how the institutional underpinnings of IPR regimes affect the costs and risk of using legal arenas to enable effective use of IP assets. Following a property rights approach it is postulated that formal and informal institutional arrangements influence how IP regimes affect the transaction costs and risk associated with converting ownership rights over IP into economic rights. Informal institutions are considered to affect the behaviour of agents involved in enforcing legal rights. This behaviour influences how IP law is implemented in legal arenas and thereby impacts on the efficacy of IPR regimes to help secure economic rights from the use of IP assets. Using data on outward FDI from the USA to 42 host countries the results find that the strength of informal institutions connected to the enforcement of IP in a country directly affects outcomes and positively moderates the effect of formal legal aspects of IP law on FDI flows. The results highlight the importance of informal institutional aspects connected to the behaviour of enforcement agents when using national legal systems to protect IP rights in cross-frontier transactions

The effect of European intellectual property institutions on Chinese outward Foreign Direct Investment

This study examines the role of the strength of the Intellectual Property (IP) institutions of 23 European countries in attracting Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) during the time period 2003–2015. Following a dynamic panel data analysis methodology, we find that the strength of IP institutions has a positive effect in attracting higher levels of OFDI from China. This is an important finding for the OFDI literature from emerging markets, since previous studies have researched this relationship from the OFDI perspective of developed countries. However, we also find a weak indication of a potential U-shaped relationship between the strength of IP institutions and Chinese OFDI. To better understand this relationship, we interact a European country's membership in the Former Eastern Bloc (FEB) with the strength of IP institutions and find a negative moderating effect. We therefore find that when investing in FEB countries, Chinese firms are attracted to weaker levels of IP institutional strength. The results of this study have important implications for future studies on the determinants of OFDI from emerging markets, as well as for European and Chinese businesses and policy-makers concerning the importance of IP institutional strength