Global intellectual property reform has been underway since the early 1990s (Box 1). With respect to international trade, a central pillar of the reform is the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) that came into effect...

This paper assesses the effect of strengthened intellectual property rights in developing countries on international licensing activity. The analysis draws on indicators for four dimensions of intellectual property right stringency (covering patent rights, copyrights and trademark rights, as...