Does institutional reform of intellectual property rights lead to more inbound FDI? Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Leveraging a 14-year panel of 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries, we advance the institution-based view in international business research by focusing on how institutional reform of intellectual property rights (IPRs) matters in developing countries. We propose how the adoption timing of an international treaty, the Paris Convention on Industrial Property Rights, leads to more inbound foreign direct investment (FDI). Further, we propose how time spent with this IPR reform interacts with the host country's innovation base to affect inbound FDI. Our findings indicate that more reform time is negatively associated with inbound FDI, but FDI increases for more reform time within countries with substantial domestic innovation bases.