Working Paper #2010-10 – Does foreign intellectual property rights protection affect U.S. exports and FDI?

Department of Economics

University of Delaware

Working Paper #2010-10

Does foreign intellectual property rights protection affect U.S. exports and FDI?

Titus O. Awokuse and Weishi Grace Gu

ABSTRACT

Using GMM models on a panel data of fifty-three countries, we examine whether stronger foreign IPR protection stimulates international transactions of U.S. multinational firms. The empirical results suggest that foreign countries that strengthen their IPR protection, especially those with strong imitative ability, can attract more international transactions from U.S. multinational firms.

JEL Codes: F23, O34

Keywords: export, FDI, intellectual property rights, GMM