IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/3693.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Are Intellectual Property Rights Unfair?

Author

Listed:
  • Saint-Paul, Gilles

Abstract

If redistribution is distortionary, and if the income of skilled workers is due to knowledge-intensive activities and depends positively on intellectual property, a social planner which cares about income distribution may in principle want to use a reduction in Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) rather than redistributive transfers. On the one hand, such a reduction reduces statis inefficiency. On the other hand, standard redistribution also reduces the level of R&D because it distorts occupational choice. We study this possibility in the context of a model with horizontal innovation, where the government, in addition to taxes and transfers, controls the fraction of innovations that are granted patents. The model predicts that standard redistribution always dominates limitations to IPRs.

Suggested Citation

  • Saint-Paul, Gilles, 2003. "Are Intellectual Property Rights Unfair?," CEPR Discussion Papers 3693, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3693
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP3693
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saint-Paul, Gilles, 2001. "Distribution and Growth in an Economy with Limited Needs," IZA Discussion Papers 273, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June.
    3. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    4. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, December.
    5. A. D. Roy, 1951. "Some Thoughts On The Distribution Of Earnings," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 135-146.
    6. Atkinson, Anthony B., 1970. "On the measurement of inequality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 244-263, September.
    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. Colin Davis, 2013. "Regional integration and innovation offshoring with occupational choice and endogenous growth," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 59-79, January.
    2. Alireza Naghavi & Chiara Strozzi, 2011. "Intellectual Property Rights, Migration, and Diaspora," Working Papers 2011.60, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    3. Anupam B. Jena & Stéphane Mechoulan & Tomas J. Philipson, 2010. "Altruism and Innovation in Health Care," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(3), pages 497-518.
    4. Alireza Naghavi & Chiara Strozzi, "undated". "Intellectual Property Rights and Diaspora Knowledge Networks," Development Working Papers 380, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    5. Colin Davis & Yasunobu Tomoda, 2009. "Competing process and quality innovation in a model of occupational choice," Discussion Papers 0915, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    6. Koichiro Sano & Yasunobu Tomoda, 2019. "Persistent income gaps in an occupational choice model with multi‐goods," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 1-20, March.
    7. Sercan Ozcan & Nazrul Islam, 2017. "Patent information retrieval: approaching a method and analysing nanotechnology patent collaborations," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(2), pages 941-970, May.
    8. Christian Kiedaisch, 2021. "Growth and welfare effects of intellectual property rights when consumers differ in income," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 72(4), pages 1121-1170, November.
    9. Colin R. Davis, 2009. "Interregional Knowledge Spillovers And Occupational Choice In A Model Of Free Trade And Endogenous Growth," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5), pages 855-876, December.
    10. Sano, Koichiro & Tomoda, Yasunobu, 2010. "Optimal public education policy in a two sector model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 991-995, September.

    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. C. Benassi & A. Chirco & C. Colombo, 2015. "Beyond the Uniform Distribution: Equilibrium Prices and Qualities in a Vertically Differentiated Duopoly," Working Papers wp1044, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    2. Corrado Benassi & Alessandra Chirco & Caterina Colombo, 2019. "Vertical differentiation beyond the uniform distribution," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 221-248, April.
    3. Colin Davis, 2013. "Regional integration and innovation offshoring with occupational choice and endogenous growth," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 59-79, January.
    4. Carbonnier Cl´ement, 2014. "The incidence of non-linear consumption taxes," Научный результат. Серия «Экономические исследования», CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет», issue 1, pages 5-18.
    5. Alex Bell & Raj Chetty & Xavier Jaravel & Neviana Petkova & John Van Reenen, 2019. "Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 647-713.
    6. Silva Junior, Daniel, 2013. "Impacts of biodiesel on the Brazilian fuel market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 666-675.
    7. Rey, Patrick & Salant, David, 2012. "Abuse of dominance and licensing of intellectual property," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 518-527.
    8. Shon M. Ferguson, 2015. "Endogenous Product Differentiation, Market Size and Prices," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 45-61, February.
    9. Martin Gaynor, "undated". "What Do We Know About Competition and Quality in Health Care Markets?," GSIA Working Papers 2006-E62, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
    10. Malik Curuk & Suphi Sen, 2023. "Climate Policy and Resource Extraction with Variable Markups and Imperfect Substitutes," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 1091-1120.
    11. Chad Syverson, 2001. "Output Market Segmentation and Productivity," Working Papers 01-07, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    12. Pardy, Martina, 2025. "Multinationals and intra-regional innovation concentration," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 127983, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Mohamed Bouzahzah & Hamid Esmaeili & Abid Ihadiyan, 2007. "Ouverture commerciale et migration," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 83(1), pages 71-90.
    14. Foellmi, Reto & Zweimuller, Josef, 2004. "Inequality, market power, and product diversity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 139-145, January.
    15. Christian Bauer, 2008. "Trade, Productivity and semi-endogenous Growth," Working Papers 056, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    16. Fujita, Masahisa & Thisse, Jacques-François, 2009. "New Economic Geography: An appraisal on the occasion of Paul Krugman's 2008 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 109-119, March.
    17. Simon Galle & Andrés Rodríguez-Clare & Moises Yi, 2023. "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(1), pages 331-375.
    18. Bernard, Andrew B. & Redding, Stephen & Schott, Peter K., 2003. "Product choice and product switching," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 3672, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Miguel Casares Polo & Hashmat Khan & Jean-Christophe Poutineau, 2018. "A structural analysis of US entry and exit dynamics," Documentos de Trabajo - Lan Gaiak Departamento de Economía - Universidad Pública de Navarra 1801, Departamento de Economía - Universidad Pública de Navarra.
    20. Sibly, Hugh, 2007. "Loss aversion, price and quality," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 771-788, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D30 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - General
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

    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:cpr:ceprdp:3693. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.