Impact of Regulations on Innovation Performances in EU
Intellectual property rightsInnovationManagement of enterprisesFöretagsledningManagementBusiness and Economics
Innovation has been identified as one of the key factors for economic growth long ago. However, the emergence of ?knowledge century? further strengthened the role of the concept since proper management of the knowledge is essential to make the best out of the innovative capacity of the companies as well as the countries. This necessitates a balanced intellectual property rights (IPR) systems, since these rights provide the basis to solve the market failures faced by innovating firms by creating property rights over knowledge. There is an inherent dilemma between invention and diffusion. A strong patent protection might be an incentive for innovation; however, a weak one facilitates a rapid and wide diffusion of inventions, which leads then to innovations and to growth for the whole economy. Therefore, appropriate regulations may be a good way to reach the two goals simultaneously. Hereafter, this paper will analyse how regulations can shape new markets for products and services, with a special focus on intellectual property rights. The study will be supported by a comparison of four countries, aiming to understand the link between their diverse IPR practices and innovative performances.