Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge Sharing Across Countries

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to integrate the empirical and game theoretical approaches to address the strategic interactions among countries in choosing their optimal levels of intellectual property rights (IPRs), and to identify how these countries can reach an efficient and equitable eq...

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Main Authors: Chou, P. B., Passerini, K.
Format: Journal Article
Language:EN
Published: 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5201
id okr-10986-5201
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-52012021-04-23T14:02:21Z Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge Sharing Across Countries Chou, P. B. Passerini, K. Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to integrate the empirical and game theoretical approaches to address the strategic interactions among countries in choosing their optimal levels of intellectual property rights (IPRs), and to identify how these countries can reach an efficient and equitable equilibrium. Design/methodology/approach - Because countries' decisions on which IPR standards and protections to implement are interrelated, the authors apply game theory to characterize the scenarios before and after the 1994 Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) involving developed and developing countries. Findings - The model shows that the pre-TRIPS equilibrium is comprised of high-income (H-I) developed countries which choose a strong IPR protection while the middle-income (M-I) and low-income (L-I) developing countries choose a weak IPR standard. For countries to move from such an equilibrium to the uniformly strong IPR regime under TRIPS, it is necessary for the H-I countries to compensate L-I and M-I countries that do not have the sufficient conditions to attract knowledge/technology transfer This compensation covers IPR protection implementation costs and increased royalties for patents. Research limitations/implications - The model proposed in this study is not complex. In reality, the payoff functions can have more variables and parameters, which, however, may also complicate the model and lower its generalizability, Originality/value - The study explains that it is difficult for countries to reach an efficient and equitable equilibrium without the subsidies and side-payments from the developed countries to the developing countries. It builds an important bridge between the game theoretical approach and the empirical studies of TRIPS, which can be further enriched and tested. It acknowledges that it is more likely for stronger IPR standards (as in TRIPS) to be implemented than an open source approach. 2012-03-30T07:31:46Z 2012-03-30T07:31:46Z 2009 Journal Article Journal of Knowledge Management 1367-3270 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5201 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language EN
relation http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to integrate the empirical and game theoretical approaches to address the strategic interactions among countries in choosing their optimal levels of intellectual property rights (IPRs), and to identify how these countries can reach an efficient and equitable equilibrium. Design/methodology/approach - Because countries' decisions on which IPR standards and protections to implement are interrelated, the authors apply game theory to characterize the scenarios before and after the 1994 Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) involving developed and developing countries. Findings - The model shows that the pre-TRIPS equilibrium is comprised of high-income (H-I) developed countries which choose a strong IPR protection while the middle-income (M-I) and low-income (L-I) developing countries choose a weak IPR standard. For countries to move from such an equilibrium to the uniformly strong IPR regime under TRIPS, it is necessary for the H-I countries to compensate L-I and M-I countries that do not have the sufficient conditions to attract knowledge/technology transfer This compensation covers IPR protection implementation costs and increased royalties for patents. Research limitations/implications - The model proposed in this study is not complex. In reality, the payoff functions can have more variables and parameters, which, however, may also complicate the model and lower its generalizability, Originality/value - The study explains that it is difficult for countries to reach an efficient and equitable equilibrium without the subsidies and side-payments from the developed countries to the developing countries. It builds an important bridge between the game theoretical approach and the empirical studies of TRIPS, which can be further enriched and tested. It acknowledges that it is more likely for stronger IPR standards (as in TRIPS) to be implemented than an open source approach.
format Journal Article
author Chou, P. B.
Passerini, K.
spellingShingle Chou, P. B.
Passerini, K.
Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge Sharing Across Countries
author_facet Chou, P. B.
Passerini, K.
author_sort Chou, P. B.
title Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge Sharing Across Countries
title_short Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge Sharing Across Countries
title_full Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge Sharing Across Countries
title_fullStr Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge Sharing Across Countries
title_full_unstemmed Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge Sharing Across Countries
title_sort intellectual property rights and knowledge sharing across countries
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5201
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