Intellectual property rights and control in the digital economy: Examining the expansion of M-Pesa

IF 3 3区 管理学 Q1 COMMUNICATION
Christopher Foster
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The importance of intellectual capital in the digital economy implies an increasingly central role of intellectual property rights (IPR). However, there are concerns that the expansion of intellectual property rights concentrates profits from innovation, creating “intellectual monopolies”. This is particularly concerning with respect to strong global regimes of intellectual property that foster economic inequities between the Global South and North. Such arguments imply that IPR is a core driver of structural inequality in the digital economy, yet there is very little empirical analysis of how such conceptual ideas unfold. This study focuses on IPR in the Kenyan mobile money service M-Pesa. It charts how M-Pesa expanded from a development-orientated innovation in Kenya to become part of a global enterprise. Control of IPR has led to bottlenecks in innovation in Kenya and significant South-to-North financial transfers. Overall, this case contributes to expanding the debate about patterns of innovation and governance of the digital economy. As digital firms expand, unpacking the processes by which global intellectual property regimes and cross-border IPR practices shape uneven power relations and inequality is vital.
数字经济中的知识产权和控制:考察M-Pesa的扩展
知识资本在数字经济中的重要性意味着知识产权的核心作用日益增强。然而,有人担心,知识产权的扩张集中了创新的利润,形成了“知识垄断”。这尤其令人担忧的是,强有力的全球知识产权制度助长了全球南方和北方之间的经济不平等。这些论点暗示,知识产权是数字经济中结构性不平等的核心驱动因素,但很少有关于这些概念如何展开的实证分析。本研究的重点是肯尼亚移动货币服务M-Pesa的知识产权。它描绘了M-Pesa如何从肯尼亚的一项以发展为导向的创新发展成为全球企业的一部分。对知识产权的控制导致了肯尼亚创新的瓶颈和大量的南北金融转移。总的来说,这个案例有助于扩大关于数字经济创新模式和治理的辩论。随着数字公司的扩张,揭开全球知识产权制度和跨境知识产权实践形成不平衡的权力关系和不平等的过程至关重要。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
5.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
29
期刊介绍: The Information Society is a multidisciplinary journal intended to answer questions about the Information Age. It provides a forum for thoughtful commentary and discussion of significant topics in the world of information, such as transborder data flow, regulatory issues, the impact of the information industry, information as a determinant of public and private organizational performance, and information and the sovereignty of the public and private organizational performance, and information and the sovereignty of the public. Its papers analyze information policy issues affecting society. Because of the journal"s international perspective, it will have worldwide appeal to scientists and policymakers in government, education, and industry.
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