IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/usi/wpaper/422.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Trademarks, Product Variety, and Economic Activity in Italy and Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Luigi Luini
  • Andrea Mangani

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between trademarks and economic activity. We compare the distribution of product classes across national, EU, and international trademarks deposited by Italian firms. In relation to EU trademarks, we analyze some characteristics of the deposits of major European countries. In particular, we compare "trademark specialization" to export specialization. A trademark is interpreted as a means to differentiate products, thus a greater number of trademarks deposited is associated with a higher degree of product differentiation. Our findings highlight that trademark protection "follows" quite closely the structure of the real economy, with some exceptions. Thus, those economic sectors where countries exhibit economic specialization also present a higher degree of product differentiation.

Suggested Citation

  • Luigi Luini & Andrea Mangani, 2004. "Trademarks, Product Variety, and Economic Activity in Italy and Europe," Department of Economics University of Siena 422, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    • Handle: RePEc:usi:wpaper:422
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.deps.unisi.it/quaderni/422.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven Tadelis, 1999. "What's in a Name? Reputation as a Tradeable Asset," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 548-563, June.
    2. By Michael Funke & Ralf Ruhwedel, 2001. "Product Variety and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence for the OECD Countries," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 48(2), pages 1-1.
    3. Lynne M. Pepall, 2002. "The Simple Economics of Brand Stretching," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(3), pages 535-552, July.
    4. Luis M.B. Cabral, 2000. "Stretching Firm and Brand Reputation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 658-673, Winter.
    5. Simon Feeny & Mark Rogers, 2003. "Innovation and Performance: Benchmarking Australian Firms," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 36(3), pages 253-264, September.
    6. Grossman, Gene M & Shapiro, Carl, 1988. "Counterfeit-Product Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 59-75, March.
    7. Jay Pil Choi, 1998. "Brand Extension as Informational Leverage," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(4), pages 655-669.
    8. De Alessi, Louis & Staaf, Robert J, 1994. "What Does Reputation Really Assure? The Relationship of Trademarks to Expectations and Legal Remedies," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(3), pages 477-485, July.
    9. Landes, William M & Posner, Richard A, 1987. "Trademark Law: An Economic Perspective," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(2), pages 265-309, October.
    10. Mary W. Sullivan, 1992. "Brand Extensions: When to Use Them," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(6), pages 793-806, June.
    11. Martin K. Perry & Robert H. Groff, 1986. "Trademark Licensing in a Monopolistically Competitive Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(2), pages 189-200, Summer.
    12. Gene M. Grossman & Carl Shapiro, 1988. "Foreign Counterfeiting of Status Goods," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 103(1), pages 79-100.
    13. DeGraba, Patrick & Sullivan, Mary W., 1995. "Spillover effects, cost savings, R&D and the use of brand extensions," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 229-248.
    14. Feenstra, Robert C. & Madani, Dorsati & Yang, Tzu-Han & Liang, Chi-Yuan, 1999. "Testing endogenous growth in South Korea and Taiwan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 317-341, December.
    15. Sappington, David E M & Wernerfelt, Birger, 1985. "To Brand or Not to Brand? A Theoretical and Empirical Question," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(3), pages 279-293, July.
    16. Higgins, Richard S & Rubin, Paul H, 1986. "Counterfeit Goods," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(2), pages 211-230, October.
    17. Sullivan, Mary, 1990. "Measuring Image Spillovers in Umbrella-Branded Products," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(3), pages 309-329, July.
    18. Keith E. Maskus, 1993. "Intellectual property rights and the Uruguay Round," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 78(Q I), pages 10-25.
    19. Huntley, J. A. K. & Stephen, Frank H., 1995. "Unfair competition, consumer deception, and brand copying: An economic perspective," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 443-462, December.
    20. Derek Bosworth & Mark Rogers, 2001. "Market Value, R&D and Intellectual Property: An Empirical Analysis of Large Australian Firms," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 77(239), pages 323-337, December.
    21. David Hummels & Peter J. Klenow, 2005. "The Variety and Quality of a Nation's Exports," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 704-723, June.
    22. Veall, Michael R., 1992. "Brand/product innovation and the optimal length of trademark/patent protection," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 491-496, December.
    23. repec:bla:ecorec:v:77:y:2001:i:239:p:323-37 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Jarrell, Gregg & Peltzman, Sam, 1985. "The Impact of Product Recalls on the Wealth of Sellers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(3), pages 512-536, June.
    25. Keith E. Maskus, 2000. "Intellectual Property Rights in the Global Economy," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 99, April.
    26. Karl Aiginger, 2001. "Measuring the Intensity of Quality Competition in Industries," Austrian Economic Quarterly, WIFO, vol. 6(2), pages 73-101, May.
    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. Lampach, Nicolas & Wijtvliet, Wessel & Dyevre, Arthur, 2020. "Merchant hubs and spatial disparities in the private enforcement of international trade regimes," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Ventsislava Nikolova-Minkova, 2022. "The Trademark Application Activity in Bulgaria According to the Nice Classification and Economic Sectors for the Period 2010-2020," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 7, pages 109-141.

    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. Giovanni B. Ramello, 2006. "What'S In A Sign ? Trademark Law And Economic Theory," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(4), pages 547-565, September.
    2. Miklos-Thal, Jeanine, 2008. "Linking Reputations: The Signaling and Feedback Effects of Umbrella Branding," MPRA Paper 11045, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Jeanine Miklós-Thal, 2012. "Linking reputations through umbrella branding," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 335-374, September.
    4. Sridhar Moorthy, 2012. "Can Brand Extension Signal Product Quality?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(5), pages 756-770, September.
    5. Nasirov, Shukhrat, 2020. "Trademark value indicators: Evidence from the trademark protection lifecycle in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(4).
    6. Ventsislava Nikolova-Minkova, 2022. "Bulgarian and Foreign Trademark Activity in Bulgaria and Bulgarian Trademark Activity Abroad for the Period 2000-2019," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 2, pages 173-196.
    7. Hakenes, Hendrik & Peitz, Martin, 2008. "Umbrella branding and the provision of quality," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 546-556, March.
    8. Luis M.B. Cabral, 2000. "Stretching Firm and Brand Reputation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 658-673, Winter.
    9. Giovanni B. Ramello, 2008. "Semiotica, diritti e mercato. Economia del marchio nel terzo millennio," ECONOMIA E POLITICA INDUSTRIALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2008(1), pages 107-125.
    10. Cabral, Luís M.B., 2009. "Umbrella branding with imperfect observability and moral hazard," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 206-213, March.
    11. J.-P. Niinimäki, 2023. "Experience Goods, Umbrella Branding, and Reputation," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 62(1), pages 33-44, February.
    12. Christine Greenhalgh & Padraig Dixon, 2002. "The Economics of Intellectual Property: A Review to Identify Themes for Future Research," Economics Series Working Papers 135, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    13. Régibeau, P & Rockett, K, 2004. "The Relationship Between Intellectual Property Law and Competition Law: An Economic Approach," Economics Discussion Papers 2851, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    14. Julio J. Rotemberg, 2010. "Quality Provision, Expected Firm Altruism and Brand Extensions," NBER Working Papers 15635, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Jose Pineda & Pablo Sanguinetti, 2007. "Trade liberalization and Export Variety in Latin America: Is there a North-South, South-South divide?," EcoMod2007 23900068, EcoMod.
    16. Ornella Tarola & Jean Gabszewicz & Didier Laussel, 2011. "To Acquire, or To Compete? An Entry Dilemma," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 369-383, December.
    17. Olivier Gergaud & Florine Livat, 2004. "Team versus individual reputations: a model of interaction and some empirical evidence," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques bla04015, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    18. Jungju Yu, 2021. "A Model of Brand Architecture Choice: A House of Brands vs. A Branded House," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(1), pages 147-167, January.
    19. Wu, YiLin, 2010. "What's in a name? What leads a firm to change its name and what the new name foreshadows," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1344-1359, June.
    20. Jen-Te Yao, 2005. "Counterfeiting and an Optimal Monitoring Policy," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 95-114, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trademarks; Intellectual property rights; Specialization; Product variety;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • K13 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Tort Law and Product Liability; Forensic Economics
    • 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:usi:wpaper:422. 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: Fabrizio Becatti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/desieit.html .

    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.