Cross-Border Property Rights and the Globalization of Innovation

85 Pages Posted: 1 Jan 2020 Last revised: 5 Mar 2024

See all articles by Bo Bian

Bo Bian

University of British Columbia

Jean-Marie Meier

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; University of Texas at Dallas - Naveen Jindal School of Management

Ting Xu

University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management

Date Written: March 2, 2024

Abstract

We identify strong cross-border property rights as a driver for the globalization of innovation. Using 67 million patents from over 100 patent offices, we construct novel measures of the three stages of innovation diffusion: adoption, sourcing, and collaboration. Exploiting staggered bilateral investment treaties (BITs) as shocks to cross-border property rights, we show that signatory countries increase technology adoption and sourcing from each other; they also increase R&D collaborations. The results are particularly strong for countries with weak domestic institutions and technologies with high imitation risks. Increases in R&D-related foreign investments explain most of the results.

Keywords: Innovation, technology diffusion, globalization, cross-border institutions, bilateral investment treaties

JEL Classification: F21, F61, G18, G38, K33, O31, O33

Suggested Citation

Bian, Bo and Meier, Jean-Marie and Xu, Ting, Cross-Border Property Rights and the Globalization of Innovation (March 2, 2024). LawFin Working Paper No. 23, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3503092 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3503092

Bo Bian

University of British Columbia ( email )

HA 865, UBC Sauder School of Business
2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z2
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://bo-bian.com/

Jean-Marie Meier

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania ( email )

The Wharton School
3620 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.jean-mariemeier.com

University of Texas at Dallas - Naveen Jindal School of Management ( email )

Jindal School of Management
800 W. Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.jean-mariemeier.com/

Ting Xu (Contact Author)

University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management ( email )

105 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6 M5S1S4
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/tingxu4

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