Along many dimensions, China has made progress in strengthening the protection of intellectual property (IP) and expanding its research and development (R&D) base over the past two decades. Meanwhile, people’s understanding of IP has gone beyond a mechanical interpretation of patent law or...

The past two decades have witnessed an active period of global reform with respect to policies concerning Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). This paper examines – from an empirical, economic perspective – policies that complement the generally strengthened framework for IPRs in developing...

This paper takes stock of the available legal protection for trade secrets (undisclosed information) in a broad sample of countries. Drawing on national and international material, the paper develops and presents an indicator of the stringency of protection of trade secrets (the Trade Secrets...

This report considers developments in agricultural patents since 1990 and their economic implications. It first provides an overview of the international framework for intellectual property protection and of the general trends in the stringency of protection in OECD countries. It then presents...

This paper takes stock of the protection of trade secrets for a sample of 37 countries, provides historical data for the period since 1985, and considers the relationship of the stringency of the protection of trade secrets to relevant economic performance indicators. The paper finds that there...

This paper, together with five case studies, is a part of a larger project looking at the various effects that trade and investment can have on innovation. The study looks at the role of trade and investment in technology transfer, the competition effects of trade and investment on innovation as...

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the influence of the strength of intellectual property rights (IPRs) on technology transfer to developing nations. The core contribution is to use regression analysis to examine the relationship between various measures of technology transfer and a...

This paper is one of five case studies which is a part of a larger project looking at the various effects that trade and investment can have on innovation. This paper studies the effect of trade and investment liberalisation on Korea’s Information and communication technology (ICT) sector and...

This paper examines China's emergence as a global player in international markets over the last few decades. It provides an overview of China's trade policy environment following the country's process of market opening and joining the WTO. The report analyses China’s role in international...

This study analyses the People’s Republic of China’s trade policy environment with a focus on trade-related regulations and their role in supporting China’s market openness. It examines in particular to what extent China’s trade regulations comply with the principles of transparency and...