The North's Intellectual Property Rights Standard for the South?

City University of Hong Kong Working Paper

35 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2002

See all articles by Edwin L.-C. Lai

Edwin L.-C. Lai

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) - Department of Economics

Larry D. Qiu

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) - Department of Economics; The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Business and Economics

Date Written: August 2002

Abstract

We build a multi-sectoral North-South trade model to analyze international intellectual property rights (IPR) protection. By comparing the Nash equilibrium IPR protection standard of the South (the developing countries) with that of the North (the developed countries), we find that the former is naturally weaker than the latter. Moreover, we show that both regions can gain from an agreement that requires the South to harmonize its IPR standards with those of the North, and the North to liberalize its traditional goods market. This demonstrates the merits of multi-sectoral negotiations in the GATT/WTO.

Keywords: Intellectual property rights, trade liberalization, multi-sector negotiation, TRIPS Agreement

JEL Classification: F1, O31, O34

Suggested Citation

Lai, Edwin L.-C. and Qiu, Larry Dongxiao and Qiu, Larry Dongxiao, The North's Intellectual Property Rights Standard for the South? (August 2002). City University of Hong Kong Working Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=298312 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.298312

Edwin L.-C. Lai (Contact Author)

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) - Department of Economics ( email )

Clear Water Bay
Kowloon, Hong Kong
China

Larry Dongxiao Qiu

The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Business and Economics ( email )

Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong
China

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) - Department of Economics ( email )

School of Economics and Finance
University of Hong Kong
Pokfulam
Hong Kong

HOME PAGE: http://www.bm.ust.hk/~larryqiu/

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