IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/esprep/275666.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Has the Least developed countries' TRIPS Waiver Delivered on its Promise of Creating a Viable Technological Base?

Author

Listed:
  • Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm

Abstract

The Trade-Related Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement of the World Trade Organization has granted major flexibilities to least developed countries (LDCs). One of these flexibilities is the exemption from the implementation of the majority of the provisions of this Agreement over a certain period (referred to as "TRIPS Waiver"), so as to help LDCs create a viable technological base. The present article has investigated whether the TRIPS Waiver was instrumental in expanding LDCs' technological base measured by their total factor productivity level. The analysis has used 14 LDCs (based on available data) and two different control groups, over the period from 1981 to 2020. It has revealed that the TRIPS Waiver helped LDCs expand their technological base, in particular for LDCs that had very weak technological bases. In addition, this positive technological base effect of the TRIPS Waiver was larger in LDCs that implemented weaker intellectual property laws, as well as those that endeavour to relatively diversify their export products, and improve the quality of export products in a context of a greater export product diversification.

Suggested Citation

  • Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Has the Least developed countries' TRIPS Waiver Delivered on its Promise of Creating a Viable Technological Base?," EconStor Preprints 275666, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:esprep:275666
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/275666/1/TRIPS-Waiver-Productivity.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deolalikar, Anil B & Roller, Lars-Hendrik, 1989. "Patenting by Manufacturing Firms in India: Its Production and Impact," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 303-314, March.
    2. Robert C. Feenstra & Robert Inklaar & Marcel P. Timmer, 2015. "The Next Generation of the Penn World Table," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3150-3182, October.
    3. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Biancini, Sara & Paillacar, Rodrigo, 2023. "Intellectual property rights protection and trade: An empirical analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    4. Muhlis Can & Giray Gozgor, 2018. "Effects of export product diversification on quality upgrading: an empirical study," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 293-313, April.
    5. Chen, Yongmin & Puttitanun, Thitima, 2005. "Intellectual property rights and innovation in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 474-493, December.
    6. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1995. "International R&D spillovers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 859-887, May.
    7. Borensztein, E. & De Gregorio, J. & Lee, J-W., 1998. "How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth?1," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 115-135, June.
    8. Bruno Amable & Lilas Demmou & Ivan Ledezma, 2010. "Product market regulation, innovation, and distance to frontier," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 19(1), pages 117-159, February.
    9. Brian J. Aitken & Ann E. Harrison, 2022. "Do Domestic Firms Benefit from Direct Foreign Investment? Evidence from Venezuela," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 6, pages 139-152, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. Ivan A. Canay, 2011. "A simple approach to quantile regression for panel data," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 14(3), pages 368-386, October.
    11. Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt, 2009. "The Economics of Growth," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262012634, December.
    12. Francisco Alcalá & Antonio Ciccone, 2004. "Trade and Productivity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(2), pages 613-646.
    13. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    14. Daron Acemoglu & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2001. "Productivity Differences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 563-606.
    15. Beck, Nathaniel & Katz, Jonathan N., 1995. "What To Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series Cross-Section Data," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(3), pages 634-647, September.
    16. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    17. Edwards, Sebastian, 1998. "Openness, Productivity and Growth: What Do We Really Know?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(447), pages 383-398, March.
    18. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3716 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Nicholas Bloom & Mirko Draca & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Trade Induced Technical Change? The Impact of Chinese Imports on Innovation, IT and Productivity," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(1), pages 87-117.
    20. Agenor, Pierre-Richard & Dinh, Hinh T., 2013. "Public policy and industrial transformation in the process of development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6405, The World Bank.
    21. Campi, Mercedes & Dueñas, Marco, 2019. "Intellectual property rights, trade agreements, and international trade," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 531-545.
    22. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    23. Pierre‐Richard Agénor & Barış Alpaslan, 2018. "Infrastructure And Industrial Development With Endogenous Skill Acquisition," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 313-334, October.
    24. Alex Coad, 2011. "Appropriate business strategy for leaders and laggards -super-†," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 20(4), pages 1049-1079, August.
    25. Farla, Kristine & de Crombrugghe, Denis & Verspagen, Bart, 2016. "Institutions, Foreign Direct Investment, and Domestic Investment: Crowding Out or Crowding In?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 1-9.
    26. Jess Benhabib & Jesse Perla & Christopher Tonetti, 2014. "Catch-up and fall-back through innovation and imitation," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 1-35, March.
    27. Briggs, Kristie, 2013. "Does patent harmonization impact the decision and volume of high technology trade?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 35-51.
    28. Edwards, Sebastian, 1993. "Openness, Trade Liberalization, and Growth in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 1358-1393, September.
    29. Chu, Angus C. & Cozzi, Guido & Galli, Silvia, 2014. "Stage-dependent intellectual property rights," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 239-249.
    30. Aidt, Toke S. & Eterovic, Dalibor S., 2011. "Political competition, electoral participation and public finance in 20th century Latin America," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 181-200, March.
    31. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan & Hoffmaister, Alexander W., 2009. "International R&D spillovers and institutions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(7), pages 723-741, October.
    32. Panle Jia & Pinelopi K. Goldberg & Shubham Chaudhuri, 2006. "Estimating the Effects of Global Patent Protection in Pharmaceuticals: A Case Study of Quinolones in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1477-1514, December.
    33. Benhabib, Jess & Spiegel, Mark M., 1994. "The role of human capital in economic development evidence from aggregate cross-country data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 143-173, October.
    34. James Bessen & Eric Maskin, 2009. "Sequential innovation, patents, and imitation," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 40(4), pages 611-635, December.
    35. Anthony Enisan Akinlo, 2005. "Impact of Macroeconomic Factors on Total Factor Productivity in Sub-Saharan African Countries," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2005-39, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    36. Antara Dutta, 2011. "From Free Entry to Patent Protection: Welfare Implications for the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 160-178, February.
    37. Farhadi, Minoo & Islam, Md. Rabiul & Moslehi, Solmaz, 2015. "Economic Freedom and Productivity Growth in Resource-rich Economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 109-126.
    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. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "The least developed countries' transitional exemption in the TRIPS agreement and the strength of intellectual property protection," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    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. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Aid for Trade flows, Patent Rights Protection and Total Factor Productivity," EconStor Preprints 274650, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "The Least developed countries' TRIPS Waiver and the Strength of Intellectual Property Protection," EconStor Preprints 271537, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    3. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "The least developed countries' transitional exemption in the TRIPS agreement and the strength of intellectual property protection," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. T. Gries & R. Grundmann & I. Palnau & M. Redlin, 2018. "Technology diffusion, international integration and participation in developing economies - a review of major concepts and findings," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 215-253, January.
    5. Su, Zhongfeng & Wang, Chenfeng & Peng, Mike W., 2022. "Intellectual property rights protection and total factor productivity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(3).
    6. Tica Josip & Šikić Luka, 2019. "Endogenous Convergence and International Technological Diffusion Channels," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 14(2), pages 34-53, December.
    7. Bravo-Ortega, Claudio & García Marín, Álvaro, 2011. "R&D and Productivity: A Two Way Avenue?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1090-1107, July.
    8. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    9. Young Eun Kim & Norman V. Loayza, 2019. "Productivity Growth: Patterns and Determinants across the World," Revista Economía, Fondo Editorial - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, vol. 42(84), pages 36-93.
    10. Gil, Pedro Mazeda & Afonso, Oscar & Brito, Paulo, 2019. "Economic growth, the high-tech sector, and the high skilled: Theory and quantitative implications," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 89-105.
    11. Glawe, Linda & Wagner, Helmut, 2020. "China in the middle-income trap?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    12. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2014. "Assessing the relative importance of multiple channels for embodied and disembodied technological spillovers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 272-286.
    13. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    14. Benzaim, Samia & Ftiti, Zied & Khedhaouria, Anis & Djermane, Rebai, 2023. "US foreign investments: Technology transfer, relative backwardness, and the productivity growth of host countries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 275-295.
    15. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2015. "Do good institutions enhance the effect of technological spillovers on productivity? Comparative evidence from developed and transition economies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 133-154.
    16. Das, Gouranga G. & Drine, Imed, 2020. "Distance from the technology frontier: How could Africa catch-up via socio-institutional factors and human capital?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    17. Miao Wang & Hong Zhuang, 2021. "FDI and educational outcomes in developing countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(6), pages 3505-3539, December.
    18. Hugo Erken & Piet Donselaar & Roy Thurik, 2018. "Total factor productivity and the role of entrepreneurship," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(6), pages 1493-1521, December.
    19. Mohsin Shah & Hamad Hasul Khan, 2020. "The Aggregate Impact of Trade and Migration on Economic Growth and its Components: Evidence from Emerging Economies," Asian Development Policy Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 8(2), pages 141-155, June.
    20. Muhammad Ali & Uwe Cantner & Ipsita Roy, 2017. "Knowledge Spillovers Through FDI and Trade: The Moderating Role of Quality-Adjusted Human Capital," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner (ed.), Foundations of Economic Change, pages 357-391, Springer.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Least developed countries; TRIPS Waiver; World Trade Organization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:esprep:275666. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zbwkide.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.