Papers

May 8, 2009

Economic Foundations of Intellectual Property Rights

Type Published Paper
Author(s) Joseph Stiglitz
University Professor
Department of Economics
Columbia University

This paper argues that an overly strong intellectual property regime impedes innovation. Joseph Stiglitz positions intellectual property rights within the broader landscape of society's innovation system, elaborates on the concept of knowledge as a global public good and claims that the economic costs of the patent regime are higher than is typically recognized. Finally, Stiglitz suggests possible reforms for the intellectual property rights regime.

This paper was originally presented as remarks delivered at 2007 Annual Frey Lecture, Duke University, forthcoming in Duke Law Journal, 2008.