The Political Economy of Intellectual Property Treaties
39 Pages Posted: 16 Aug 2002 Last revised: 29 May 2022
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The Political Economy of Intellectual Property Treaties
The Political Economy of Intellectual Property Treaties
The Political Economy of Intellectual Property Treaties
Date Written: August 2002
Abstract
Intellectual property treaties have two main types of provisions: national treatment of foreign inventors, and harmonization of protections. I address the positive question of when countries would want to treat foreign inventors the same as domestic inventors, and how their incentive to do so depends on reciprocity. I also investigate an equilibrium in which regional policy makers choose IP policies that serve regional interests, conditional on each other's policies. I compare these policies with a notion of what is optimal, and argue that harmonization will involve stronger IP protection than independent choices. Harmonization can either enhance or reduce global welfare. Levels of public and private R&D spending will be lower than if each country took account of the uncompensated externalities that its R&D spending confers on other countries. The more extensive protection engendered by attempts at harmonization are a partial remedy.
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