Do Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Protection Induce More Bilateral Trade? Evidence from China's Imports

Most of the previous studies on the effect of IPR protection on international trade have been from the perspective of major industrialized nations. However, much of the current debate on the effects of IPR protection involves large developing countries with high threat of imitation. This study contributes to the literature by analyzing the impact of the strengthening of patent laws in China on its bilateral trade flows. We estimate the effects of patent rights protection on China’s imports at the aggregate and detailed product categories for both OECD (developed) and non-OECD (developing) countries. The empirical results suggest that increased patent rights protection stimulate China’s imports, particularly in the knowledge-intensive product categories. Furthermore, while the evidence in support of the market expansion effect is significant for imports from OECD countries, it is rather weak and mostly insignificant for imports from non-OECD countries.