This book offers an accessible yet rigorous introduction to the economics of intellectual property (IP) with a distinctive international focus, emphasizing that knowledge is a global public good, that IP policies have worldwide economic impacts, and that international institutions and agreements shape national IP regimes. The volume presents a non-technical, evidence-based analysis, moving from foundational topics — types of IP rights, data measurement, and core economic principles — to the North–South dynamics that drive global innovation. It then explores real-world applications across critical sectors: artificial intelligence, public health, agriculture and food security, creative industries, and secondary patent markets. Throughout, the discussion integrates case studies and empirical evidence, highlighting the inherent trade-offs in IP systems and their policy implications. Economics of Intellectual Property and R&D demonstrates how the impacts of IP rights depend on a country's level of technological development and economic circumstances. Designed for students and researchers in economics, business, law, and public policy, the book also serves as a reference for policymakers and IP practitioners.
Walter G Park is Professor of Economics at American University in Washington, DC. His research focuses on the economics of intellectual property rights, particularly their effects on innovation, productivity growth, and technology diffusion. He is widely known for constructing comparative international indexes of patent rights and copyright strength that have been extensively used in empirical IP research. His most recent work is the
Handbook on Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights (Edward Elgar, 2024), which he edited.
Park serves on the editorial board of the
International Journal of Intellectual Property Management and the advisory editorial board of Research Policy. He has conducted studies for several international organizations and government agencies, including the OECD, World Bank, WIPO, US Patent and Trademark Office, European Patent Office, Industry Canada, and the Center for Global Development. He has also served as a special sworn employee at the US Bureau of Economic Analysis and as a visiting scholar at the Institute for Industrial Relations at the University of California, Berkeley.
He holds a PhD in Economics from Yale University, an M.Phil. in Economics from Oxford University, and a B.A. in Economics and Statistics from the University of Toronto.
