Title: Intellectual property rights, foreign direct investment and competition issues in developing countries

Authors: Keith E. Maskus, Guifang Yang

Addresses: Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0256, USA. Senior Economist, Charles River Associates Incorporated, 600 13th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005-3094, USA

Abstract: The relationships between intellectual property rights and foreign direct investment are subtle and complex, though potentially important as developing countries strengthen their systems for protecting such rights. There is emerging empirical evidence that both investment and licensing of sophisticated technologies depend positively on the strength of intellectual property rights. This may raise concerns about anti-competitive abuse of such rights in developing economies, pointing to the need for complementary regulation to promote dynamic competition.

Keywords: intellectual property rights; foreign direct investment; competition policy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2000.002806

International Journal of Technology Management, 2000 Vol.19 No.1/2, pp.22-34

Published online: 07 Jul 2003 *

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