Intellectual Property Rights and Entry into a Foreign Market: FDI vs Joint Ventures

This paper investigates how the mode of entry into a
foreign market can be influenced by the intensity of R&D in an industry and the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in a recipient country. It then analyzes the link between the IPR regime and policies that place limits on the degree of foreign ownership in a joint venture. The paper concludes that host countries never finds it optimal to fully protect IPRs and concede all bargaining power in a joint venture to the foreign firm.