IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/gejxxx/v17y2017i02ngej-2017-0017.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Intellectual Property Rights, Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Freedom

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio Saravia

    (Mercer University, Macon GA, USA)

  • Gustavo J. Canavire-Bacarreza

    (School of Economics and Finance, Universidad EAFIT, Medellin, Colombia)

  • Fernando Rios-Avila

    (Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson NY, USA)

Abstract

The relationship between intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to pose a challenging puzzle. While several studies have found that these two variables are positively correlated, others have not been able to find conclusive results. We contend that a partial explanation resides on institutional differences among host countries. We find that increases in IPR protection encourage FDI in countries in which the institutional environment, as proxied by indices of economic freedom, is efficient but not otherwise. We use threshold regression techniques on samples ranging from 81 to 102 countries during the 1990 - 2010 period.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Saravia & Gustavo J. Canavire-Bacarreza & Fernando Rios-Avila, 2017. "Intellectual Property Rights, Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Freedom," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(2), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:gejxxx:v:17:y:2017:i:02:n:gej-2017-0017
    DOI: 10.1142/GEJ-2017-0017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/GEJ-2017-0017
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/GEJ-2017-0017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hong Hwang & Jollene Z. Wu & Eden S. H. Yu, 2016. "Innovation, Imitation and Intellectual Property Rights in Developing Countries," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 138-151, February.
    2. Elhanan Helpman & Marc J. Melitz & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2004. "Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 300-316, March.
    3. Pierre‐Guillaume Méon & Khalid Sekkat, 2004. "Does the Quality of Institutions Limit the MENA's Integration in the World Economy?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(9), pages 1475-1498, September.
    4. repec:ulb:ulbeco:2013/7360 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. de Haan, Jakob & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2003. "Does more democracy lead to greater economic freedom? New evidence for developing countries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 547-563, September.
    6. Friedrich Schneider & Andreas Buehn & Claudio Montenegro, 2010. "New Estimates for the Shadow Economies all over the World," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 443-461.
    7. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    8. Lee Branstetter & Kamal Saggi, 2011. "Intellectual Property Rights, Foreign Direct Investment and Industrial Development," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(555), pages 1161-1191, September.
    9. S. Lael Brainard, 1993. "An Empirical Assessment of the Factor Proportions Explanation of Multi-National Sales," NBER Working Papers 4583, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Richard C. Levin & Alvin K. Klevorick & Richard R. Nelson & Sidney G. Winter, 1987. "Appropriating the Returns from Industrial Research and Development," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 18(3, Specia), pages 783-832.
    11. Walter G. Park & Juan Carlos Ginarte, 1997. "Intellectual Property Rights And Economic Growth," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 15(3), pages 51-61, July.
    12. Bruce A. Blonigen & Jeremy Piger, 2019. "Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 1, pages 3-54, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    13. Glass, Amy Jocelyn & Saggi, Kamal, 2002. "Intellectual property rights and foreign direct investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 387-410, March.
    14. Wheeler, David & Mody, Ashoka, 1992. "International investment location decisions : The case of U.S. firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1-2), pages 57-76, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza & Luis Castro Peñarrieta, 2017. "Can IPR Affect MNE’s Entry Modes? The Chilean Case," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 15808, Universidad EAFIT.
    2. Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza & Luis Castro Peñarrieta, 2021. "Can licensing induce productivity? Exploring the IPR effect," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 549-586, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Antonio Saravia & Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza & Fernando Rios-Avila, 2012. "Intellectual property rights, foreign direct investment and the shadow economy," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 13514, Universidad EAFIT.
    2. Federico Carril-Caccia & Juliette Milgram-Baleix & Jordi Paniagua, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment in oil-abundant countries: The role of institutions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-23, April.
    3. Alessandro Borin & Riccardo Cristadoro, 2014. "Foreign direct investment and multinational firms," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 243, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Joel Blit & Mauricio Zelaya, 2015. "Do Firms Respond to Stronger Patent Protection by Doing More R&D?," Working Papers 1501, University of Waterloo, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2015.
    5. Federico Carril‐Caccia & Elena Pavlova, 2020. "Mergers and acquisitions & trade: A global value chain analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 586-614, March.
    6. Tung Son Ha & Vu Tuan Chu & Mai Tuyet Thi Nguyen & Dung Hoai Thi Nguyen & Anh Ngoc Thi Nguyen, 2021. "The impact of Greenfield investment on domestic entrepreneurship," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.
    7. Pica, Giovanni & Rodríguez Mora, José V., 2011. "Who's afraid of a globalized world? Foreign Direct Investments, local knowledge and allocation of talents," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 86-101, September.
    8. Biancini, Sara & Bombarda, Pamela, 2021. "Intellectual property rights, multinational firms and technology transfers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 191-210.
    9. Barrett, Alan & Bergin, Adele & FitzGerald, John & Lambert, Derek & McCoy, Daire & Morgenroth,Edgar & Siedschlag, Iulia & Studnicka, Zuzanna, 2015. "Scoping the Possible Economic Implications of Brexit on Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS48.
    10. Xie, Zhenzhen & Li, Jiatao, 2015. "Demand Heterogeneity, Learning Diversity and Innovation in an Emerging Economy," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 277-292.
    11. Pamela J. Smith & Sebastian J. Anti, 2022. "How does TRIPs compliance affect the economic growth of developing countries? Application of the Synthetic Control method," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(12), pages 3873-3906, December.
    12. Maria Borga & Perla Ibarlucea Flores & Monika Sztajerowska, 2020. "Drivers of divestment decisions of multinational enterprises - A cross-country firm-level perspective," OECD Working Papers on International Investment 2019/03, OECD Publishing.
    13. Kuzmina, Olga & Volchkova, Natalya & Zueva, Tatiana, 2014. "Foreign direct investment and governance quality in Russia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 874-891.
    14. Arghya Ghosh & Jota Ishikawa, 2018. "Trade liberalization, absorptive capacity and the protection of intellectual property rights," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 997-1020, November.
    15. David M. Gould & Congyan Tan & Amir S. Sadeghi Emamgholi, 2014. "Attracting Foreign Direct Investment," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 15(2), pages 133-174, September.
    16. Ronald B. Davies, 2018. "From China with Love: The Role of FDI from Third Countries on EU Competition and R&D Activities," Working Papers 201813, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    17. Olena Ivus & Walter Park & Kamal Saggi, 2016. "Intellectual Property Protection And The Industrial Composition Of Multinational Activity," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 1068-1085, April.
    18. Mariam Camarero & Laura Montolio & Cecilio Tamarit, 2019. "Determinants of German outward FDI: variable selection using Bayesian statistical," Working Papers 1906, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    19. Ian Goldin & Pantelis Koutroumpis & François Lafond & Julian Winkler, 2024. "Why Is Productivity Slowing Down?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 196-268, March.
    20. Camarero, Mariam & Montolio, Laura & Tamarit, Cecilio, 2019. "What drives German foreign direct investment? New evidence using Bayesian statistical techniques," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 326-345.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    intellectual property rights; foreign direct investment; institutions; economic freedom;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:gejxxx:v:17:y:2017:i:02:n:gej-2017-0017. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/gej .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.