IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/agd/wpaper/14-035.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Software Piracy on Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Simplice Asongu

    (Yaoundé/Cameroun)

  • Antonio Rodríguez Andrés

    (Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

This paper examines two dimensions of the software piracy-development nexus to complement existing formal literature. It empirically assesses the incidence of piracy on the Human Development Index (HDI) and its constituents and then the instrumentality of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) treaties (laws) in the linkages. An instrumental variable or Two-stage least squares is applied on panel of 11 African countries with data for the period 2000-2010. Three main findings are established: (1) software piracy has a negative incidence on inequality adjusted human development; (2) the unappealing effect of piracy on the HDI is fuelled by per capita economic prosperity and life expectancy components of human emancipation; (3) software piracy increases literacy. Two major policy implications have been retained from the findings. Firstly, adherence to international IPRs protection treaties (laws) may not impede per capita economic prosperity and could improve life-expectancy. Secondly, adoption of tight IPRs regimes may negatively affect human development by diminishing the literacy rate and restricting diffusion of knowledge.

Suggested Citation

  • Simplice Asongu & Antonio Rodríguez Andrés, 2014. "The Impact of Software Piracy on Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/035, African Governance and Development Institute..
  • Handle: RePEc:agd:wpaper:14/035
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Software-Piracy-and-Inclusive-Human-Development.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2014
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    2. Simplice Asongu & Uchenna Efobi & Ibukun Beecroft, 2015. "Inclusive Human Development in Pre-crisis Times of Globalization-driven Debts," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 27(4), pages 428-442, December.
    3. Diwan, Ishac & Rodrik, Dani, 1991. "Patents, appropriate technology, and North-South trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1-2), pages 27-47, February.
    4. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "Software piracy, inequality and the poor: evidence from Africa," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(4), pages 526-553, July.
    5. Giovanni Ramello, 2011. "Property rights and externalities: the uneasy case of knowledge," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 123-141, February.
    6. Rod Falvey & Neil Foster & David Greenaway, 2006. "Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Growth," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(4), pages 700-719, November.
    7. Gould, David M. & Gruben, William C., 1996. "The role of intellectual property rights in economic growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 323-350, March.
    8. Simplice A. Asongu & Gilbert A.A. Aminkeng, 2013. "The economic consequences of China--Africa relations: debunking myths in the debate," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 261-277, November.
    9. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2016. "The role of governance in mobile phones for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 55, pages 1-13.
    10. Johannes W. Fedderke & Julius A. Agbor & Nicola Viegi, 2010. "How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in sub-Saharan Africa?," Working Papers 176, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    11. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2016. "Revolution empirics: predicting the Arab Spring," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 439-482, September.
    12. Asongu Simplice, 2012. "Globalization, (fighting) corruption and development: how are these phenomena linearly and nonlinearly related in wealth effects?," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 12/024, African Governance and Development Institute..
    13. Andrés, Antonio R. & Goel, Rajeev K., 2012. "Does software piracy affect economic growth? Evidence across countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 284-295.
    14. Simplice Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2015. "Finance and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 15/061, African Governance and Development Institute..
    15. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Software Piracy and Scientific Publications: Knowledge Economy Evidence from Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(4), pages 572-583, December.
    16. Peitz, Martin & Waelbroeck, Patrick, 2006. "Piracy of digital products: A critical review of the theoretical literature," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 449-476, November.
    17. C. A. Depken & L. C. Simmons, 2004. "Social construct and the propensity for software piracy," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 97-100.
    18. Montfort Mlachila & René Tapsoba & Sampawende J. A. Tapsoba, 2017. "A Quality of Growth Index for Developing Countries: A Proposal," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(2), pages 675-710, November.
    19. Trevor Moores, 2008. "An Analysis of the Impact of Economic Wealth and National Culture on the Rise and Fall of Software Piracy Rates," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 39-51, August.
    20. Asongu Simplice, 2013. "Consult your gods: the questionable economics of development assistance in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 13/002, African Governance and Development Institute..
    21. Ramello Giovanni B., 2005. "Intellectual Property and the Markets of Ideas," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 1-20, June.
    22. Julius A. Agbor, 2011. "How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2011-027, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    23. Antonio Andrés & Simplice Asongu, 2013. "Fighting Software Piracy: Which Governance Tools Matter in Africa?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 667-682, December.
    24. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "The Questionable Economics of Development Assistance in Africa: Hot-Fresh Evidence, 1996–2010," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 41(4), pages 455-480, December.
    25. Antonio R Andres & Simplice A Asongu, 2013. "Global dynamic timelines for IPRs harmonization against software piracy," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 874-880.
    26. J.A. Agbor & J. W. Fedderke & N. Viegi, 2010. "How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in sub-Saharan Africa?," Working Papers 176, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    27. Simplice Asongu, 2013. "Harmonizing IPRs on Software Piracy: Empirics of Trajectories in Africa," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 45-60, November.
    28. Keith E. Maskus, 2000. "Intellectual Property Rights in the Global Economy," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 99, April.
    29. Nicita Antonio & Ramello Giovanni B., 2007. "Property, Liability and Market Power: The Antitrust Side of Copyright," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 767-791, December.
    30. Mr. Nikola Spatafora & Rahul Anand & Mr. Saurabh Mishra, 2012. "Structural Transformation and the sophistication of Production," IMF Working Papers 2012/059, International Monetary Fund.
    31. Dulani Seneviratne & Ms. Yan M Sun, 2013. "Infrastructure and Income Distribution in ASEAN-5: What are the Links?," IMF Working Papers 2013/041, International Monetary Fund.
    32. Jean-Baptiste Fleury & Alain Marciano, 2013. "Becker and Posner: Freedom of Speech and Public Intellectualship," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 45(5), pages 254-278, Supplemen.
    33. Simplice A, Asongu, 2012. "How has mobile banking stimulated financial development in Africa?," MPRA Paper 38576, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    34. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 653-675, December.
    35. Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol & Ahmed Elkassabgi, 2011. "The inverse U curve relationship between software piracy and technological outputs in developed nations," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 34(9), pages 968-979, August.
    36. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "The impact of mobile phone penetration on African inequality," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(8), pages 706-716, August.
    37. Nicolas Dias Gomes & Pedro André Cerqueira & Luís Alçada Almeida, 2014. "Effects of Taxation on Software Piracy Across the European Union," GEMF Working Papers 2014-03, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    38. Marchese Carla & Ramello Giovanni B., 2011. "In the Beginning Was the Word. Now is the Copyright," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 271-289, October.
    39. Nicolas Dias Gomes & Pedro André Cerqueira & Luís Alçada-Almeida, 2014. "Effects of taxation on software piracy across the European Union," 2014 Papers pgo476, Job Market Papers.
    40. Nicolas Dias Gomes & Pedro André Cerqueira & Luís Alçada Almeida, 2014. "Software Piracy: A Critical Survey of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature," GEMF Working Papers 2014-05, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    41. Cherng G. Ding & Na‐Ting Liu, 2009. "Productivity Changes Of Asian Economies By Taking Into Account Software Piracy," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(1), pages 135-145, January.
    42. Keith E. Maskus (ed.), 2004. "The WTO, Intellectual Property Rights and the Knowledge Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2985.
    43. Christopher Robertson & K. Gilley & William Crittenden, 2008. "Trade Liberalization, Corruption, and Software Piracy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 78(4), pages 623-634, April.
    44. Stulz, Rene M. & Williamson, Rohan, 2003. "Culture, openness, and finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 313-349, December.
    45. Maskus, Keith E. & Penubarti, Mohan, 1995. "How trade-related are intellectual property rights?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3-4), pages 227-248, November.
    46. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "Fighting Software Piracy in Africa: How Do Legal Origins and IPRs Protection Channels Matter?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(4), pages 682-703, December.
    47. Dyuti Banerjee & Ahmed Khalid & Jan-Egbert Sturm, 2005. "Socio-economic development and software piracy. An empirical assessment," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(18), pages 2091-2097.
    48. Nicolas Dias Gomes & Pedro André Cerqueira & Luís Alçada Almeida, 2013. "Determinants of Worldwide Software Piracy Losses," GEMF Working Papers 2013-19, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    49. Turk Ariss, Rima, 2010. "On the implications of market power in banking: Evidence from developing countries," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 765-775, April.
    50. Mishra, Saurabh & Lundstrom, Susanna & Anand, Rahul, 2011. "Service export sophistication and economic growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5606, The World Bank.
    51. E. Panas & V. Ninni, 2011. "Is there a software Kuznets curve?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(18), pages 1723-1728, December.
    52. Yang, Guifang & Maskus, Keith E., 2001. "Intellectual property rights, licensing, and innovation in an endogenous product-cycle model," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 169-187, February.
    53. McDonald, John, 2009. "Using least squares and tobit in second stage DEA efficiency analyses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 197(2), pages 792-798, September.
    54. Bezmen, Trisha L. & Depken II, Craig A., 2006. "Influences on software piracy: Evidence from the various United States," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 356-361, March.
    55. Rajeev K. Goel & Michael A. Nelson, 2012. "Shadow economy and international software piracy," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(23), pages 1951-1959, December.
    56. Richard T. Carson & Yixiao Sun, 2007. "The Tobit model with a non-zero threshold," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 10(3), pages 488-502, November.
    57. Ginarte, Juan C. & Park, Walter G., 1997. "Determinants of patent rights: A cross-national study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 283-301, October.
    58. Walter G. Park & Juan Carlos Ginarte, 1997. "Intellectual Property Rights And Economic Growth," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 15(3), pages 51-61, July.
    59. Rajeev Goel & Michael Nelson, 2009. "Determinants of software piracy: economics, institutions, and technology," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(6), pages 637-658, December.
    60. Marron, Donald B & Steel, David G, 2000. "Which Countries Protect Intellectual Property? The Case of Software Piracy," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(2), pages 159-174, April.
    61. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "Globalization (fighting), corruption and development," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(3), pages 346-369, May.
    62. Linsu Kim, 2004. "The multifaceted evolution of Korean technological capabilities and its implications for contemporary policy," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 341-363.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "Boosting Scientific Publications in Africa: Which IPRs Protection Channels Matter?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(1), pages 197-210, March.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Software Piracy and Scientific Publications: Knowledge Economy Evidence from Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(4), pages 572-583, December.
    3. Antonio Andrés & Simplice Asongu & Voxi Amavilah, 2015. "The Impact of Formal Institutions on Knowledge Economy," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(4), pages 1034-1062, December.
    4. Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "A Survey on Inequality-Adjusted Human Development in Africa," Africagrowth Agenda, Africagrowth Institute, vol. 14(1), pages 4-7.
    5. Lizethe Berenice Méndez-Heras. & Francisco Venegas-Martínez. & Diego Emilio Linthon-Delgado., 2021. "El impacto del crédito bancario sobre el desarrollo humano en México: un análisis de datos panel a nivel estatal, 2004-2016. (The Impact of Bank Credit on Human Development in Mexico: A Data Analysis ," Ensayos Revista de Economia, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Economia, vol. 0(1), pages 1-28, May.
    6. Simplice A. Asongu & Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2018. "Determinants of Property Rights Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(4), pages 1291-1308, December.
    7. Tomczyk, Łukasz, 2019. "The Practice of Downloading copyrighted files among adolescents in Poland: Correlations between piracy and other risky and protective behaviours online and offline," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Simplice A. Asongu & Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2018. "Determinants of Property Rights Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(4), pages 1291-1308, December.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Software Piracy and Scientific Publications: Knowledge Economy Evidence from Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(4), pages 572-583, December.
    3. Simplice Asongu & Christelle Meniago, 2018. "Technology and persistence in global software piracy," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 43-63, October.
    4. Antonio Andrés & Simplice Asongu, 2013. "Fighting Software Piracy: Which Governance Tools Matter in Africa?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 667-682, December.
    5. Asongu Simplice & Andrés Antonio, 2014. "Global trajectories, dynamics, and tendencies of business software piracy: benchmarking IPRs harmonization," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/011, African Governance and Development Institute..
    6. Simplice A. Asongu & Pritam Singh & Sara Le Roux, 2018. "Fighting Software Piracy: Some Global Conditional Policy Instruments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 175-189, September.
    7. Asongu, Simplice A. & Le Roux, Sara, 2017. "Enhancing ICT for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 44-54.
    8. Asongu Simplice & Antonio R. Andrés, 2012. "Fighting software piracy: which governance tools matter in Africa?," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 12/017, African Governance and Development Institute..
    9. Asongu, Simplice & Boateng, Agyenim & Akamavi, Raphael, 2016. "Mobile Phone Innovation and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 75046, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Simplice A. Asongu, 2021. "Global Software Piracy, Technology and Property Rights Institutions," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(3), pages 1036-1063, September.
    11. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "Software piracy, inequality and the poor: evidence from Africa," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(4), pages 526-553, July.
    12. Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "Boosting Scientific Publications in Africa: Which IPRs Protection Channels Matter?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(1), pages 197-210, March.
    13. Antonio Andrés & Simplice Asongu & Voxi Amavilah, 2015. "The Impact of Formal Institutions on Knowledge Economy," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(4), pages 1034-1062, December.
    14. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "Fighting Software Piracy in Africa: How Do Legal Origins and IPRs Protection Channels Matter?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(4), pages 682-703, December.
    15. Simplice A, Asongu, 2012. "Fighting software piracy: which IPRs laws (treaties) matter in Africa?," MPRA Paper 43590, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Simplice Asongu, 2013. "Harmonizing IPRs on Software Piracy: Empirics of Trajectories in Africa," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 45-60, November.
    17. Asongu, Simplice & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2015. "Finance and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Africa," MPRA Paper 71787, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2017. "The Comparative Inclusive Human Development of Globalisation in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 1027-1050, December.
    19. Simplice A. Asongu, 2018. "CO2 emission thresholds for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 18/023, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    20. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Environmental degradation and inclusive human development in sub‐Saharan Africa," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 25-34, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Software piracy; Human development; Intellectual property rights; Panel data; Instrumental variables;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:agd:wpaper:14/035. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Asongu Simplice (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/agdiycm.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.