International patterns of intellectual property protection and commodity trade: An economic perspective

This article provides an economic perspective on the cross-country patterns of intellectual property protection and commodity trade, and the linkages between these patterns. The objectives are to describe the characteristics of countries in relation to the strength of their intellectual property protection and to describe the relationship between the strength of country protection of intellectual property and U.S. exports to these countries. An economic framework for thinking about these relationships is provided, and data are examined for their consistency with the economic interpretations. Findings show that country protection of intellectual property is positively related to the level of country development and that U.S. bilateral exports are positively related to the strength of intellectual property protection in the recipient importing country.