Have Developing Countries Gained From the Marriage Between Trade Agreements and Intellectual Property Rights?

Sumner La Croix and Denise Konan

No 200605, Working Papers from University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics

Abstract: Have developing countries gained from the incorporation of IPR standards into the WTO framework? We use historical, theoretical, and empirical methods to answer this question and reach several conclusions. First, U.S. history provides a clear case of a developing country which used strong patent rights and weak copyrights in the 19th century to enhance its growth prospects. Second, recent theoretical literature presents a strong case for welfare gains to developing countries from patent harmonization if developed countries pay lump-sums to offset higher royalty payments by developing countries. Third, the creation of intellectual property in new types of inventions is necessary, but the scope, depth, and enforcement of IPRs is likely to differ across countries according to their economic and political institutions, their per capita income, and their capability to engage in and disseminate the fruits of R&D.

JEL-codes: F13 K33 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2006
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-int and nep-law
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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