Exploring the Endogenous Relationship between Intellectual Property Rights Protection and Economic Growth

摘要

This paper studies the impact of intellectual property rights (IPR) on economic growth as an endogenous factor. Most economic growth theories emphasize on enhancing IPR protection in order to encourage innovation, which stimulates economic growth, but some empirical findings also show that there exists a negative relationship between IPR protection and GDP growth rate. This paper uses the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) approach and simultaneous equations to examine the endogenous relationship between IPR and economic growth. The empirical analysis implements a panel of data for 46 countries during the period of 2000-2007. This paper finds bilateral negative endogeneity for IPR protection and economic growth. Moreover, population growth, mobile cellular subscription, and high-tech exports significantly promote economic growth. Internet use and economic freedom significantly induce higher IPR protection.