Technology Transfer and the Economic Implications of the Strengthening of Intellectual Property Rights in Developing Countries

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the influence of the strength of intellectual property rights (IPRs) on technology transfer to developing nations. The core contribution is to use regression analysis to examine the relationship between various measures of technology transfer and a set of indexes that quantify the strength of IPRs based on laws on the books, while controlling for other factors. For this purpose, the authors have assembled a data set covering a broad international panel of countries for an expanded time frame (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005) in comparison with previous studies on IPRs by the Trade and Agriculture Directorate. Regression analysis is also used to assess the relationship between measures of local innovation and the IPR indexes. The study employs case study analysis of select countries -namely the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) -to complement the statistical analysis.

Foreign Direct Investment, Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Growth: A Panel Study for Arabic Countries

“…Similarly, Park and Lippoldt (2008) show, other things being equal, that IPR significantly and positively influences the stock of direct investment received by developing countries. Their work, conducted for a panel of developing countries over the period 1990-2005 also shows that IPR attract foreign direct investments in technology-intensive sectors ( such as chemicals and machinery) .…”

“…It is built from models of Park and Lippoldt (2008) and Lee and Mansfield (1996). It is also assumed that the developing country' attractiveness of FDI depends on the level of its human capital and its economic stability.…”

Does patent protection help or hinder technology transfer?

“…In a similar analysis, Park and Lippoldt (2008) Ito and Wakasugi (2007) distinguish between different types of FDI. They estimate the probability that affiliates of Japanese manufacturing multinational companies engage in R&D in a sample of developed and developing host countries.…”

The impact of the patent system on the social welfare: A critical view

“…Based on the U.S. experience, we can infer that a development of IPR would have more positive effects in newly industrialized countries than many economists and politicians believe. Park and Ginarte (1997) and Park and Lippoldt (2008) empirically test the positive effects of strengthening the IPR system by constructing a proxy variable that tries to measure the degree of IPR protection in various countries through the quantification of qualitative legal elements. Their findings demonstrate the possible positive effects, such as incentives to trade, reception of foreign investments and technologies, incentives to invest in R&D, and incentives to create own technologies and export them.…”