Intellectual property rights and their impacts in developing countries: An empirical analysis of maize breeding

There is little empirical evidence on the effects of intellectual property rights (IPR) on developing countries. Complete enumeration of the Mexican maize breeding industry showed that, contrary to the hypothesis that IPR would provide incentives for R&D and innovation, IPR play no role for the industry in general, but that they are important for certain breeders ’ categories. The importance of the institutional setting and of transaction costs related to IPR protection. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for the development of biotechnology inventions and the improvement of IPR theory