Economics of intellectual property rights in the international arena

Abstract

Many issues relating to the protection of intellectual property are economic in nature. This article applies economic analysis to several of those issues that arise in an international context. The first model concerns how one nation's choice of a particular form of protection will affect the economic welfare of its trading partners. Then the economics of unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral action are compared. The final analyses cover the optimal number of members in a multilateral agreement and the choice between mutually exclusive international agreements.