Empirical study on international harmonization of intellectual property rights, trade and innovation

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26380315
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic policy
• Research Institution: Aoyama Gakuin University (2016); Senshu University (2014-2015)
• Principal Investigator: ITO Banri 青山学院大学, 経済学部, 准教授 (40424212)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 知的財産権 / 特許制度 / 国際化 / 輸出 / 企業データ / R&D / 重力モデル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study shows that institutional distance in terms of patent law has an inverted U-shaped relationship with bilateral trade. As the difference in the level of patent protection increases, import share tends to decrease for patent-sensitive products. The present study argues that patent law harmonization between exporters and importers is a crucial factor to increase bilateral trade for patent-sensitive products, such as pharmaceuticals, medical chemicals, and medical equipment.
In addition, the empirical results from Japanese firm-level data show that exporting firms engaged in R&D activities are more productive than non-exporters and exporters with no R&D, regardless of whether internal or external R&D strategy is adopted; further, exporters that employ both the R&D strategies are the most productive. The results suggest that the external R&D strategy is complementary to the in-house R&D strategy and is crucial for promoting the innovations of internationalized firms.

Free Research Field

国際貿易・投資および貿易政策の決定要因と影響に関するミクロ実証分析