Lahsen and Piper (2018)
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Source Details
Lahsen and Piper (2018) | |
Title: | Property Rights and Intellectual Property Protection, GDP growth and Well-Being in Latin America |
Author(s): | Lahsen, A. A., Piper, A. T. |
Year: | 2018 |
Citation: | Lahsen, A.A and Piper, A.T (2018) Property Rights and Intellectual Property Protection, GDP growth and Well-Being in Latin America. MPRA Paper No. 90034 (November 2018) |
Link(s): | Open Access |
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About the Data | |
Data Description: | Data was obtained from three sources:
• The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Index (in particular assessing responses to the question “in your country, to what extent are property rights, including financial assets, protected?”) • The Latinobarometer (assessing socio-economic control variables and life satisfaction) • The World Bank (providing GDP and economic growth data) The study primarily aimed to investigate the relationship between rights protections, GDP growth and life satisfaction. |
Data Type: | Primary and Secondary data |
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Cross Country Study?: | Yes |
Comparative Study?: | No |
Literature review?: | No |
Government or policy study?: | No |
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Abstract
“A central argument for increased protections of property rights (PR) is the role they play in encouraging economic transactions, investment and economic growth. Likewise, the utilitarian justification of intellectual property laws is that such rights promote creative inventions and innovation, and thus can make a nation better off. A further argument is psychological: it has also been argued (though rarely tested) that enhanced rights contribute to increases in well-being enjoyed by a county’s citizens. Many Latin American countries have made efforts to improve property rights (and their enforcement) in the recent past, with varying success. Using three data sources (the Latinobarometer, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Index), this investigation considers the relationship between property rights and intellectual property protection, economic growth, and well-being. The results, which are heterogeneous with respect to labour force status, suggest that policy makers in Latin America should pursue improvements in property rights if they wish to improve citizen well-being while also promoting economic growth.”
Main Results of the Study
In Latin America, intellectual property protection is positively associated with life satisfaction, but only to the extent that this is associated with some economic growth (e.g. when GDP is controlled for). As such, the study finds no ascertainable well-being benefits to stronger intellectual property protection. The authors ascribe this to the fact that stronger rights may increase costs and accessibility issues to creative content, thus negatively impacting life satisfaction.An individual’s labour market status may also impact the relationship with life satisfaction and intellectual property protection; for example, self-employed business owners appear to benefit from stronger intellectual property protection (as it effectively lowers entrepreneurial and transactional risk). Conversely, those who are self-employed in the informal sector appear to suffer under stronger intellectual property protection, possibly due to a sectorial reliance on imitative activities. For students, stronger intellectual property protections are always perceived negatively (particularly because they will be the target market for most creative content), whereas for the retired there is a statistically significant positive relationship between life satisfaction and strong intellectual property protection (a reverse image of student).
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
The authors policy suggestions are limited to the improved protection or property rights overall (e.g. not specifically intellectual property, to which they found was not associated with life satisfaction in absence of economic growth). In this respect they suggest that property rights in general should be improved in order to promote life satisfaction in citizens and economic growth in Latin America.
Coverage of Study
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