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Distance to frontier, intellectual property rights, and economic growth

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  • Haibin Wu

Abstract

This article examines the effects of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection on growth and convergence. Firms in a country undertake both innovation and imitation to improve their productivity. IPR protection reduces the cost of innovation, but makes imitation more costly. Countries at early stages of growth adopt a strategy of high effort on imitation, and switch to the strategy of high effort on innovation at some point. A higher degree of IPR protection makes the switch to the strategy of high effort on innovation earlier. There are two possible growth traps. A middle-income trap arises when a country fails to switch to high effort on innovation due to a low degree of IPR protection. Whereas a poverty trap may exist at the early stage of development, when there is no enough effort on imitation due to a strict IPR protection.

Suggested Citation

  • Haibin Wu, 2010. "Distance to frontier, intellectual property rights, and economic growth," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 165-183.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ecinnt:v:19:y:2010:i:2:p:165-183
    DOI: 10.1080/10438590802551227
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Willoughby, Kelvin W. & Mullina, Nadezhda, 2021. "Reverse innovation, international patenting and economic inertia: Constraints to appropriating the benefits of technological innovation," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Chu, Angus C. & Cozzi, Guido & Galli, Silvia, 2014. "Stage-dependent intellectual property rights," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 239-249.
    3. Afonso Óscar, 2019. "The role of IPRs on prices, wages and growth in a two country directed technical change model," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-27, January.
    4. Azevedo, Mónica L. & Afonso, Óscar & Silva, Sandra T., 2014. "Endogenous growth and intellectual property rights: A north–south modeling proposal," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 112-120.
    5. Chu, Angus C. & Cozzi, Guido & Galli, Silvia, 2011. "Innovating like China: a theory of stage-dependent intellectual property rights," MPRA Paper 30553, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Oscar Afonso & Manuela Magalhães, 2021. "The role of intellectual property rights in a directed technical change model," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 2142-2176, April.
    7. Leonardo Andrade Rocha & Ahmad Saeed Khan & Patrícia Verônica Pinheiro Sales Lima & Maria Ester Dal Poz & Fernando Porfirio Soares De Oliveira, 2016. "Corrupção, Burocracia E Outras Falhas Institucionais: O “Câncer” Da Inovação E Do Desenvolvimento," Anais do XLIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 43rd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 090, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].

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