Intellectual property rights, non-market considerations and foreign R&D investments

João Albino-Pimentel, Pierre Dussauge and Omar El Nayal

Research Policy, 2022, vol. 51, issue 2

Abstract: Prior research has focused on how firms use a variety of organizational mechanisms to protect their R&D investments from misappropriation risks in foreign countries. Little is known, however, about how firms can rely on non-market factors to induce preferential treatment by host government authorities, thereby protecting their intellectual property overseas. In this paper, we investigate two such non-market factors, one at the country level, the other at the firm level, that are likely to influence the choice of where firms locate their innovation activities: host country inclination towards the firm's home country and the firm's political capabilities, respectively. We thus examine how IPR policies and non-market factors interact in protecting firm innovation from misappropriation and in making countries more attractive for innovation-related activities. We find support for our predictions in a sample of 1,341 foreign R&D investments made by 163 firms from 14 home countries over the period 2003–2016.

Keywords: Intellectual property rights; Foreign R&D investments; Political capabilities; Intercountry perceptions; Innovation policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:respol:v:51:y:2022:i:2:s0048733321002341

DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2021.104442

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