Alternative Energy/Do Strong IP increase TT
Branstetter, L., Fisman, R. & Foley, C.F., 2005. Do strong IP rights increase international Technology Transfer? Empirical Evidence from US firm-level data, Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Branstetter, 2005 - The paper analyses international IPR reforms in 16 countries over the period of 1982-1999 to determine if stronger IPR protections create more technology transfer within US multinational firms. The empirical results reported in the paper show that there were increases in royalty payments (up to 30%), and R&D expenditures among affiliates of firms that make extensive sue of the U.S. Patent system before the reforms and were therefore likely to value the reforms the most. The conclusion is that U.S. multinational firms respond to IPR reforms abroad by increasing technology transfer to the countries where reform occurs. This paper does not focus on alternative energy technologies in particular, only technology in general so while the study is helpful in determining the results of patenet reform on tech transfer in a more distant time period, it does not provide much insight into current discussions around our research.