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Intellectual Property Rights and Foreign Technology Licensing in Developing Countries: An Empirical Investigation

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  • Gentile, Elisabetta

    (Asian Development Bank)

Abstract

The paper addresses the question of whether expanded and strengthened protection of intellectual property (IP) fosters technology transfer to developing countries. Cross-sectional analysis of a representative sample of firms operating in 42 developing economies indicates that going from no IP protection to maximum IP protection is associated with a 65% increase in the predicted probability of licensing foreign technology for the subpopulation of affiliated firms, whereas the predicted probability is not significantly different from zero for unaffiliated firms. We also find evidence that the environment in which a firm operates moderates the relationship of IP protection and firm-level technology licensing: while going from no IP protection to maximum IP protection is associated with a 47% increase in the predicted probability of licensing foreign technology for firms operating in upper-middle-income countries, there is at best no significant correlation for firms operating in lower-middle-income and lowincome countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Gentile, Elisabetta, 2017. "Intellectual Property Rights and Foreign Technology Licensing in Developing Countries: An Empirical Investigation," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 515, Asian Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:adbewp:0515
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Do Aid for Trade flows affect Technology Licensing in Recipient Countries?," EconStor Preprints 273419, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    developing countries; intellectual property rights; technology licensing; TRIPS Agreement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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