Intellectual property piracy in a North–South context: empirical evidence

Abstract

The protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) has been a contentious issue for more than 20 years. Industrialized nations have moved to knowledge‐based economies, and simultaneously, trade barriers have fallen, making intellectual property (IP) vulnerable. Adding to this vulnerability are conflicting international institutional environments, belief systems, and economic realities. The debate over IPR protection has become a significant global trade issue pitting the net‐technology producing “North” against the net‐technology consuming “South.” With this in mind, there has been much debate about the impact of alternative IPR regimes (tight or loose) on the welfare of Southern economies. Policy makers, in both the South and the North, search for arguments to convince recalcitrant Southern countries to follow the Northern model of strict IPR regimes. The South, faced with a dilemma, searches for arguments to justify looser regimes or convince its populace that tighter regimes are in the best interest of the nation. The objective of this research is to add empirical clarity about the welfare impacts of weak IPR on the firm and host country. To this end, we employ a novel methodological design and unique context. The research design is deductive, in that we use the empirical setting of Pioneer‐Argentina, S.A., a seller of bioengineered agricultural seeds, to test the existing theory of weak IPR impacts in a North–South context.

Heterogeneity of Property Rights Strategies in A Global Context: The Case of Genetically Modified Soybean Seeds

“…25 The abandonment of valuable attributes by Pioneer-Argentina, as in the case of Monsanto, is also relative. As noted by Goldsmith et al (2006), Pioneer may eventually adopt a strategy of tie-in sales of soybean and maize seeds. In this respect, it is interesting to consider to what extent a strategy of protection of property rights does not violate the antitrust law.…”

“… Soybean seed market, A rgentina, 1996–2000 Source: Goldsmith et al . (), Table 1, pp. 342—prepared by the authors. …”

“…The ceiling price varies according to the costs of seed storage between planting seasons and the dynamics of the black market. Based on this argument, Goldsmith, Ramos, and Steiger (2006) investigate empirical evidence. As shown in Figure 3, the average price of seeds in Argentina has declined consistently since 1998, whereas the formal market 21 The way such bags of saved seed would be counted is unclear.…”

Direitos de propriedade, estratégia e ambiente institucional

“…Lesser (1998) observa, entretanto, que a inovação também contém componentes de desconcentração industrial (Blair, 1972;Gort e Klepper, 1982;Winter, 1984). Seguindo a mesma lógica, Goldsmith, et al, (2006) Os autores analisam as opções disponíveis de maximização de lucro para firmas norteamericanas do setor de biotecnologia agrícola que operam em ambientes institucionais relativamente fracos na América do Sul (Argentina). Identificam-se três estratégias: (i)…”

“…Em geral, os estudos acima indicam que a apropriação de valor sobre a tecnologia transgênica em sementes de soja não está irremediavelmente atrelada à existência de um ambiente institucional forte, sendo que firmas de biotecnologia podem estabelecer formas estratégicas diferenciadas. Esta questão é analisada por Goldsmith, et al, (2006) e Enders e Goldsmith (2007) em termos de escolhas estratégicas que se estruturam em torno de uma dicotomia Norte/Sul.…”