Intellectual property as a key driver of business performance: the case of Singapore and its implications for innovation in a knowledge-based economy

While the importance of intellectual capital (IC) for organisational value varies across the enterprise continuum, it is commonly accepted that IC has a generally positive effect on firm performance. It has been observed in the literature that certain variables such as the industry sector and the level of economic development play an important mediating role on the effects of IC on firm performance. It is thus accepted that conditions of the environment in which a firm operates may have a tempering effect on the significance of IC for its performance. One of the most important external factors for organisational value is the level of intellectual property (IP) rights protection granted to patents, copyright, trademarks, etc., in its operating environment. The case of Singapore is a specific example of a country where the emergence of a strong IP rights protection environment coincided with the tremendous development of the country. But since Singapore was already one of the top locations in the world for ease of doing business, the question remains whether its innovation ecosystem evolved because of the IP rights protection advance. The objective of this paper is thus to examine the degree to which an IP rights protection system fosters an environment in which IC can be of significance for firm performance. Preliminary second-level analysis of the aggregate results of a meta-study of the relevant bibliography (2003-2013) demonstrates that the significance of IC is severely undermined for manufacturing firms that operate in environments with weak IP rights protection.