Innovation Trends in NAFTA Countries: An Econometric Analysis of Patent Applications

José Carlos Rodríguez; Mario Gómez

doi:10.4067/S0718-27242011000300009

Authors

José Carlos Rodríguez Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Empresariales (Economic and Business Research Institute) Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
Mario Gómez Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Empresariales (Economic and Business Research Institute) Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242011000300009

Keywords:

intellectual property, patent applications, innovative activity, structural change, NAFTA countries

Abstract

This paper analyzes innovation trends in North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries by means of the number of patent applications during the period 1965 to 2008. Making use of patent data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Network for Science and Technology Indicators (Red Iberoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología, RICYT), we search for presence of multiple structural changes in the patent applications series in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Such changes may suggest that firms’ innovative activity has been modified in these countries (Mansfield, 1986). Accordingly, it would be expected that the new regulations implemented in these countries in the 1980s and 1990s have influenced their intellectual property regimes through the NAFTA and the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. Consequently, the question conducting this research is how the new dispositions affecting intellectual regimes in NAFTA countries have affected innovation activities in these countries. The results achieved in this research confirm the existence of multiple structural changes in the series of patent applications resulting from the new legislation implemented in these countries.

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Author Biographies

José Carlos Rodríguez, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Empresariales (Economic and Business Research Institute) Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo

Professor José Carlos Rodríguez received his Ph.D. in Administration at Université du Québec à Montréal in Canada. His research interests are in innovation and technology management, international business and strategy, and system dynamics modeling. He has published in several journals and conference proceedings. He has written on subjects related to university-industry technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation, and strategy and competitive advantage. He is professor at the Economic and Business Research Institute (ININEE) in Mexico. Professor Rodríguez has also gotten other appointments at Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE).

Mario Gómez, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Empresariales (Economic and Business Research Institute) Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo

Professor Mario Gómez holds a doctorate in economics from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico. His research interests focus on international trade and finance, economics of technology change, and econometrics modeling and methods. Professor Gómez has published in several journals and conference proceedings on issues related to intellectual property and innovation, science and technology policy, and international economics and finance. He is professor at the Economic and Business Research Institute (ININEE) in Mexico. Professor Gómez has also gotten other appointments at Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM).

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