From catch-up to frontier: The utility model as a learning device to escape the middle-income trap

Su Jung Jee and Kerstin H\"otte
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Kerstin Hötte

Papers from arXiv.org

Abstract: The second-tier patent system, known as utility models (UMs), has been considered a tool for supporting technological learning in catching-up economies. UMs often impose lower inventive step requirements than patents, making them accessible to inventors with limited capacity. However, the mechanisms by which the UM system supports the catch-up process and the system's long-term impact in the post-catch-up period remain underexplored. We address this gap by empirically examining how and under which conditions the UM system can create synergies with catch-up strategies and influence the emerging industrial structure in the post-catch-up phase. Drawing on the literature on catch-up and intellectual property rights (IPR), we argue that catch-up strategies that prioritize imitative and adaptive learning in short-cycle technologies can be complemented by the UM system, supporting the development of indigenous capabilities to produce high-impact frontier technologies and internalize their value-added. Using South Korea as a case study, we present two key findings: First, the country's post-catch-up frontier technologies (US patents) are more impactful when they build on active learning experiences encoded in domestic UMs. Second, UM-reliant frontier technologies contribute to value internalization (local value-added relative to foreign value-added). Our findings extend the literature on the role of different types of IPR in various stages of development and inform policy discussions on how UMs can be used to support capability building in developing countries.

Date: 2024-08, Revised 2025-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://arxiv.org/pdf/2408.14205 Latest version (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: From catch-up to frontier: The utility model as a learning device to escape the middle-income trap (2024)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:arx:papers:2408.14205

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Papers from arXiv.org
Bibliographic data for series maintained by arXiv administrators ().