The role of intellectual property rights in economic growth

By influencing the incentives to innovate, intellectual property rights protection may affect economic growth in important ways. An important question for many countries is whether stricter enforcement of intellectual property is a good strategy for economic growth. This paper examines the role of intellectual property rights in economic growth,utilizing cross-country data on patent protection, trade regime, and country-specific characteristics. The evidence suggests that intellectual property protection is a significant determinant of economic growth. These effects appear to be slightly stronger in relatively open economies and are robust to both the measure of openness used and to other alternative model specifications.