Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/324760 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 456
Publisher: 
University of Zurich, Department of Economics, Zurich
Abstract: 
This paper provides the first quantitative analysis of optimal patent policy in trading economies. We develop a new framework that combines trade and growth theory into a tractable quantitative model, which we estimate to match patent and trade data. Counterfactual analysis yields three main results. First, potential gains from international cooperation over patent policies are large, but achieving them requires stronger protection in countries more closely integrated with innovative economies. Second, only a small share of these gains has been realized so far. Third, by pushing towards policy harmonization, the TRIPS agreement hurts developing countries without generating global welfare gains.
Subjects: 
Intellectual property rights
Trade policy
Patents
Growth
Quantitative trade
TRIPS
JEL: 
F10
F13
F55
O33
O40
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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