nep-ipr New Economics Papers
on Intellectual Property Rights
Issue of 2018‒01‒08
four papers chosen by
Giovanni Ramello
Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro”

  1. Intellectual Property Rights, Multinational Firms and Technology Transfers By Sara Biancini; Pamela Bombarda
  2. How well does consumer-based brand equity align with sales-based brand equity and marketing mix response? By Datta, Hannes; Ailawadi, Kusum L.; van Heerde, H.J.
  3. The Paper Trail of Knowledge Spillovers: Evidence from Patent Interferences By Ganguli, Ina; Lin, Jeffrey; reynolds, nicholas
  4. Advertising’s Long-Term Impact on Brand Price Elasticity Across Brands and Categories By Vanhuele, Marc; Ataman, Berk; Pauwels, Koen; Srinivasan, Shuba

  1. By: Sara Biancini; Pamela Bombarda
    Abstract: Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protect firms from imitation and are considered crucial to promote innovation and technological diffusion. This paper examines the impact of IPR on import sourcing decisions of multinationals. We consider a framework in which firms offshore production of an intermediate good in a developing country. Firms can either decide to import the intermediate from vertically integrated producers, or from independent suppliers. In both cases, offshoring part of the production process embodies a risk of imitation. The model predicts that, under reasonable assumptions, stronger IPR encourage by a larger extent the imports of intermediates through vertical integration. Using U.S. Related-Party Trade database, we find empirical evidence supportive of the positive link between level of IPR and the relative share of imports from vertically integrated manufacturers.
    Keywords: intellectual property rights, MNF, FDI, outsourcing, international trade
    JEL: F12 F23 O34
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6769&r=ipr
  2. By: Datta, Hannes (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management); Ailawadi, Kusum L.; van Heerde, H.J. (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management)
    Abstract: Brand equity is the differential preference and response to marketing effort that a product obtains because of its brand identification. Brand equity can be measured based on either consumer perceptions or on sales. Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) measures what consumers think and feel about the brand, whereas sales-based brand equity (SBBE) is the brand intercept in a choice or market share model. This paper studies the extent to which CBBE manifests itself in SBBE and marketing mix response using ten years of IRI scanner and Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) data for 290 brands spanning 25 packaged good categories. It uncovers a fairly strong positive association of SBBE with three dimensions of CBBE – Relevance, Esteem, and Knowledge – but a slight negative correspondence with the fourth dimension, Energized Differentiation. It also reveals new insights on the category characteristics that moderate the CBBE-SBBE relationship, and documents a more nuanced association of the CBBE dimensions with response to the major marketing mix variables than heretofore assumed. Implications are discussed for academic researchers who predict and test the impact of brand equity, for market researchers who measure it, and for marketers who want to translate their brand equity into marketplace success.
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:341e600f-af04-42e7-9668-a1e161a798d0&r=ipr
  3. By: Ganguli, Ina (University of Massachusetts–Amherst); Lin, Jeffrey (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia); reynolds, nicholas (brown university)
    Abstract: We show evidence of localized knowledge spillovers using a new database of multiple invention from U.S. patent interferences terminated between 1998 and 2014. Patent interferences resulted when two or more independent parties simultaneously submitted identical claims of invention to the U.S. Patent Office. Following the idea that inventors of identical inventions share common knowledge inputs, interferences provide a new method for measuring spillovers of tacit knowledge compared with existing (and noisy) measures such as citation links. Using matched pairs of inventors to control for other factors contributing to the geography of invention and distance-based methods, we find that interfering inventor pairs are 1.4 to 4 times more likely to live in the same city or region. These results are not driven exclusively by observed social ties among interfering inventor pairs. Interfering inventors are also more geographically concentrated than inventors who cite the same prior patent. Our results emphasize geographic distance as a barrier to tacit knowledge flows.
    Keywords: Localized knowledge spillovers; multiple invention; patents; interferences
    JEL: O30 R12
    Date: 2017–12–21
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:17-44&r=ipr
  4. By: Vanhuele, Marc; Ataman, Berk; Pauwels, Koen; Srinivasan, Shuba
    Abstract: Advertising often aims at creating and reinforcing brand differentiation, which should translate into reduced price competition. Currently unknown are the boundary conditions for long-term advertising benefits, the route through which advertising effects materialize, and the role of competitive advertising in the category. The authors develop a Hierarchical Dynamic Linear Model that links own and others’ advertising in the category to brand price elasticity directly and indirectly through their impact on own and competitive mindset metrics. The model accommodates dynamic dependencies in mindset metrics, controls for endogeneity in marketing, captures competitive reactions and performance feedback in marketing, and explains cross-sectional variation as a function of brand and category characteristics. Model estimation on seven years of data for 350 brands in 39 categories shows that both own and all competitive advertising in the category lower price sensitivity for the average brand, both directly and through advertising awareness. The attenuation of price sensitivity is more pronounced for niche brands in complex and more expensive categories, with higher concentration and purchase frequency. A financial simulation based on the estimates shows that while the price elasticity effect is positive and substantial for high-price brands, it hurts the advertising returns for low-price brands.
    Keywords: advertising; price elasticity; mindset metrics; long-term effects; dynamic linear models; and empirical generalization
    JEL: M31 M37
    Date: 2016–05–22
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:1153&r=ipr

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