Heterogeneity of southern countries and southern intellectual property rights policy

Abstract.  We develop a model with one innovating northern firm and heterogeneous southern firms that compete in a final product market. We assume southern firms differ in their ability to adapt technology and study southern incentives to protect intellectual property rights. We find that, in a non-cooperative equilibrium, governments resist IPR protection, but collectively southern countries benefit from some protection. We show that, in general, countries with more efficient firms prefer higher collective IPR protection than those with less efficient firms. Given the aggregate level of IPR protection, it is more efficient if the more efficient countries have weaker IPR protection.     

资本回报率增长的最优知识产权保护强度研究——基于82个国家面板数据的实证

基于制度层面分析资本回报率变动的动因有助于探索经济增长新动力。计算82个国家的资本回报率，并基于知识产权保护视角对其变动机制进行分析，得出以下主要结论：①资本回报率增长存在最优知识产权保护强度，但发展中国家的理论最优强度小于发达国家；②发展中国家知识产权保护以远离最优强度状态促进资本回报率提升，发达国家则以接近最优强度状态促进资本回报率提升；③金融危机后，知识产权保护的促进效应在发展中国家更加明显，在发达国家有所弱化；④机制分析显示，知识产权保护通过促进技术创新提升资本回报率。     

Endogenous strength of intellectual property rights: Implications for economic development and growth

The key institution that determines sustained growth in R&D-based growth models is the strength of intellectual property rights, which are usually assumed to be exogenous. In this paper we endogenize the strength of the intellectual property rights and show how private incentives to protect these rights affect economic development and growth. Our model explains endogenous differences in intellectual property rights across countries as private incentives to invest in property rights generate multiple equilibria. We show that the resulting institutional threshold offers an explanation for why the effect of a transfer of institutions from one country to another depends on the quality of the institutions that were imported.     

The composition of foreign direct investment and protection of intellectual property rights: Evidence from transition economies

While existing literature examined the impact of intellectual property protection on the volume of foreign direct investment (FDI), little is known about its effect on the composition of FDI inflows. This paper addresses this question empirically using a unique firm-level data set from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It finds that weak protection deters foreign investors in technology-intensive sectors that rely heavily on intellectual property rights. Moreover, the results indicate that a weak intellectual property regime encourages investors to undertake projects focusing on distribution rather than local production.     

Intellectual property rights, multinational firms and economic growth

This paper develops a model of North-South trade with multinational firms and economic growth in order to analyze formally the effects of stronger intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in developing countries. In the model, Northern firms invent new higher-quality products, multinational firms transfer manufacturing operations to the South and the Southern firms imitate products produced by multinational firms. It is shown that stronger IPR protection in the South (i.e., the adoption and implementation of the TRIPs agreement) leads to a permanent increase in the rate of technology transfer to the South within multinational firms, a permanent increase in R&D employment by Southern affiliates of Northern multinationals, a permanent decrease in the North-South wage gap, and a temporary increase in the Northern innovation rate.     

知识产权保护对经济增长的影响: 一个基于垂直创新的技术扩散模型

本文首先在垂直创新的思想下构建了一个内生增长的技术扩散模型,并给出了稳态解求解的方法.然后,以上述模型为基础,本文着重讨论了跟随国知识产权保护对稳态经济的影响.本文的研究结果表明,加强跟随国知识产权保护力度将降低领导国的创新速度和跟随国的模仿速度,从而降低稳态经济增长率.所以,就稳态而言,加强跟随国知识产权保护力度对领导国经济和跟随国经济都会产生负面影响.     

With whom do you trade? Defensive innovation and the skill‐bias

Abstract We examine whether increased trade with countries with ineffective protection of intellectual property has contributed to the skill‐deepening of the 1980s. We construct an index of effective protection of intellectual property at the country level, combining data on protection of patents and rule of law. Next, we construct an industry‐specific version of this index, using as weights each country's trade share in the total trade of the industry. We find a decline in this trade‐weighted index, owing to a rise in trade with countries with low effective protection of intellectual property, which explains 29% of the rise in within‐industry skill‐intensity.     

RCEP 框架下企业 OFDI 技术利益的理论机制与实证检验

区域全面经济伙伴关系协定（RCEP）合作框架下中国企业对外直接投资（OFDI）及其技术利益格局会深远影响成员国的后续科技创新与合作。本文基于上市公司面板数据，运用“熵权法”测算技术利益，结合企业、环境、东道国与OFDI特征研究中国企业对RCEP国家直接投资的技术利益实现问题。研究发现：对RCEP国家直接投资对实现技术利益具有显著促进作用；管理效率的提升强化技术利益的实现能力，高知识产权保护水平强化技术利益实现的动机。进一步分析表明，国有企业能实现更多的技术利益，而民营企业可以通过提高管理效率和知识产权保护水平提升技术利益实现水平；企业OFDI水平越高、东道国知识产权保护水平越高，技术利益实现效果越好；投资到RCEP国家的企业相比投资到“一带一路”国家的企业会获得更多技术利益。     

Migration as an antidote to rent-seeking?

We develop a new mechanism through which skilled migration may influence economic performance in the sending country. If agents can choose between acting as rent-seekers and engaging in productive activities, and only productive skills are exportable, a positive probability of migration (to a more secure economy) reduces the relative expected returns from rent-seeking, thus decreasing the proportion of skilled workers who opt for “parasitic” activities. Such an improvement in the allocation of talent may prevail over the loss of skilled workers due to outmigration. However, we show that this result is not robust to the introduction of endogenous protection. If productive workers share their resources between accumulation of productive capital and investment in security, prospective migration may induce a weaker protection against rent-seeking, which in turn might depress average income in the source economy.     

DOES FOREIGN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION AFFECT US EXPORTS AND FDI?

Several previous studies have examined the relationship between intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, exports, and FDI independently. However, very few prior analyses jointly examined the linkages between IPR protection and multiple modes of international transactions. This paper investigates how foreign IPR protection affects how US firms jointly serve overseas markets through exports and FDI. Using both static pooled regressions and a dynamic panel GMM estimator on a panel data of 53 countries, we examine whether stronger foreign IPR protection stimulates US international transactions. The empirical results suggest that foreign countries that strengthen their IPR protection, especially those with strong imitative ability, can attract more international transactions from the USA.     

PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DECISIONS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

Determining the appropriate degree of protection to provide intellectual property in the United States and abroad is an important public policy issue. This paper addresses the role of intellectual property protection in the firm's decision on the level of investment in research and development. It also focuses on the stimulus that such protection provides for economic growth in both developed and developing countries. The main conclusion is that the benefits of designing and enforcing a mechanism for strong protection of intellectual property generally exceed the costs.     

Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Growth

Interest in links between protection of intellectual property and growth has been revived by developments in new growth theory and by the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement. The relationship between the strength of a country’s intellectual property rights (IPRs) regime and rate of growth is ambiguous from a theoretical standpoint, reflecting the variety of channels through which technology can be acquired and their differing importance at different stages of development. We investigate the impact of IPR protection on economic growth in a panel of 79 countries using threshold regression analysis. We show that whilst the effect of IPR protection on growth depends upon the level of development, it is positively and significantly related to growth for low‐ and high‐income countries, but not for middle‐income countries. This suggests that, although IPR protection encourages innovation in high‐income countries, and technology flows to low‐income countries, middle‐income countries may have offsetting losses from reduced scope for imitation.     

OFDI逆向技术溢出、制度质量与区域创新能力

基于2005—2016年我国省际面板数据,首先通过OLS、DIFF GMM、SYS GMM3种基准线性回归方法论证了OFDI逆向技术溢出对我国区域创新能力的促进作用。以OFDI为核心解释变量,分别构建以地区腐败、市场化程度和知识产权保护为门槛变量的动态门槛回归模型。结果发现：随着地区腐败程度加深,我国区域创新能力逐渐减弱;以市场化程度、知识产权保护为门槛变量,跨越门槛点后OFDI对我国区域创新能力的拉动作用依次增强。最后,结合面板向量自回归模型进一步研究对外直接投资过程中地区腐败、市场化程度和知识产权保护对区域创新能力的动态即期冲击。结果显示:市场化程度单位变动对区域创新能力的影响呈现正向冲击且持续性较强,知识产权保护对区域创新能力的拉动最为迅速但后期持续性较弱,地区腐败对区域创新能力产生负向冲击作用。     

Intellectual property rights and the upgrading of the global value chain status

The present paper explores how intellectual property rights (IPR) protection affects an economy’s status in global value chains (GVC) by introducing IPR protection into the sequential production model. We find that a suitable IPR protection system that matches the phase of economic and technological development a country has reached is the key for developing countries to upgrade their status in GVC, which are dominated by multinational firms from developed countries. Empirical analysis with multinational panel data for 55 countries from 2005 to 2015 provides evidence in support of the predictions of this model, although the GVC‐enhancing effects of IPR protection are heterogeneous for developing and developed countries. The empirical conclusions are robust after using the instrumental variable method and controlling for endogeneity.     

知识产权保护的技术创新效应——基于技术交易市场视角和省级面板数据的实证分析

文章利用1997-2008年省级面板数据,以技术市场成交额占当地GDP的比重来衡量地区知识产权保护水平,采用系统广义矩估计和门槛回归方法实证分析了知识产权保护对技术创新的影响。研究结果表明,加强知识产权保护能够显著促进技术创新;知识产权保护与研发物质资本和人力资本投入之间分别具有互补性和替代性;我国大部分地区已经跨越了知识产权保护水平的门槛值,加强知识产权保护不会阻碍技术创新。因此,要提高我国的自主创新能力,进一步加强知识产权保护不容懈怠。     

知识产权保护能促进经济增长吗？--基于中国省级面板数据的实证分析

在Ginarte-Park方法的基础上,考虑到处于司法转型期的发展中国家的执法力度和立法强度,建立知识产权保护强度指标体系,将中国30个省、自治区、直辖市知识产权保护水平量化。接着运用面板数据分析方法,以人均实际GDP对数为被解释变量,以知识产权保护强度为解释变量,通过实证分析验证了我国加强知识产权保护与经济增长的关系,证明了中国的知识产权保护水平与经济增长之间的显著正相关关系。然后对东中西部地区分别进行实证分析,绘制了异常经济增长与知识产权保护强度的散点图,来作为稳健性检验的一部分。并通过对变量的相关系数矩阵图的分析,初步探讨了知识产权保护促进经济增长的具体路径。结果表明,在控制了时间效应后,知识产权保护强度能够解释省份个体效应的37.4%。     

The Nature of Innovative Activity and the Protection of Intellectual Property in Asia

This paper examines trends in innovative activity in several major Asian countries during the period 1997–2011 as measured by their filings and grants of various types of intellectual property (IP). By almost all measures, there has been a remarkable increase in innovative activity in China. In fact, in 2011, China accounted for roughly 25% of global patent applications. However, several indirect measures suggest that the quality of this newly created Chinese IP is not (yet) world‐class. For example, relative to residents of other major Asian countries and the USA, Chinese residents tend to file IP applications in foreign markets at a much lower rate. Similarly, the ratio of royalty payments earned by Chinese residents to the number of patents granted to them is fairly low by international standards. Finally, the ratio of patent to utility model applications (typically granted for relatively minor innovations) in China is also relatively small.     

Endogenous institutional change after independence

Independence from colonial rule was a key event for both political and economic reasons. We argue that newly independent countries often inherited sub-optimal institutional arrangements, which the new regimes reacted to in very different ways. We present a model of endogenous changes in property rights institutions where an autocratic post-colonial elite faces a basic trade-off between stronger property rights, which increases the dividends from the modern sector, and weaker property rights that increases the elite's ability to appropriate resource rents. The model predicts that revenue-maximizing regimes in control of an abundance of resource rents and with insignificant interests in the modern sector will rationally install weak institutions of private property, a prediction which we argue is well in line with the experience of several developing countries.     

国外知识产权确认不侵权之诉的分析与借鉴

他山之玉,可以攻石。研究其他国家对于确认不侵权之诉的规定,横向考察国外知识产权确认不侵权之诉的法律渊源,广泛涉猎国际条约、英美法系、大陆法系国家的相关具体规定。可以看到这些国家早在一个世纪甚至更早之前就对市场参与者利用不当警告损害竞争对手的问题提供了各种保护和救济途径。中国应该借鉴和吸收这些国家的规定,完善确认不侵权之诉的相关制度,这不仅是遵守《巴黎公约》规定的国际义务,也是知识经济时代急迫的现实要求。     

THE USE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND INNOVATION BY MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN CANADA

The objective of the paper is to determine how the utilisation of intellectual property rights (IPRs) by Canadian manufacturing firms is related to their characteristics, activities, competitive strategies and industry sector in which they operate. The principal source of information used in this endeavour is the Statistics Canada Survey of Innovation 1999.

The paper starts with an overview of other studies that looked at the use of intellectual property rights in Canada. Follows a conceptual framework presenting variables likely to explain the use specific IPRs by Canadian manufacturing firms.

The use of IPRs is to a great extent correlated with basic economic characteristics of firms, their activities and industry environment. A series of estimated logit regressions predict the probability that a firm will use a specific IPR instrument. Also estimated is the contribution of the use of IPRs to the probability that a firm innovates.

The decision of a firm to use IPRs is often not independent of the decision to innovate. To eliminate the potential endogeneity bias I estimate a two-stage logit model. A comparison of the single- and two-stage logit models shows that the nexus from the protection of intellectual property (patents) to innovation may be weaker than indicated by the single equation model.