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http://dx.doi.org/10.22675/STIPR.2017.8.1.062

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Regime and Innovation in a Developing Country Context: Evidence from the 1986 IPR Reform in Korea  

Kwon, Seokbeom (School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology)
Woo, Seokkyun (School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology)
Publication Information
STI Policy Review / v.8, no.1, 2017 , pp. 62-86 More about this Journal
Abstract
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) system is one of the major institutions for incentivizing innovation. However, a strong IPR regime does not necessarily encourage innovation every time. This is because a variety of factors come into play in configuring the ways the IPR system interacts with the dynamics of innovation. In the present study, we examine whether different degrees of absorptive capacity at the industry level bring about heterogeneous effects of a strong IPR regime on the innovation capability of innovators across different industries in developing country. Using the case of the 1986 IPR reform in Korea, which permitted patenting pharmaceutical products and copyrighting computer programs, we analyze the quality of patents produced by Korean applicants between 1982 and 1991. Our analysis finds no evidence that the IPR reform improved the innovation capability of innovators in the two aforementioned sectors, but rather affected their patenting behavior differently.
Keywords
intellectual Property Rights (IPR); absorptive capacity; innovation; developing countries;
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