The least developed countries' transitional exemption in the TRIPS agreement and the strength of intellectual property protection

Has the transitional exemption granted to the least developed countries (LDCs) Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the WTO's Trade-Related Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement helped LDCs reduce the strength of their Intellectual Property Protection (IPR)? The present study addresses this question by using 24 LDCs (treatment group) and two control groups, over the period from 1970 to 2015. The empirical analysis has established that the LDC transitional exemption was instrumental in reducing the IPR levels in LDCs, and LDCs that had lower IPR levels (i.e., those located in the lower quantiles) enjoyed larger reductions in IPR levels, thanks to this transitional exemption. Moreover, the effect of the LDC transitional exemption on LDCs' IPR levels depended on LDCs' duration of the membership in the WTO, as well as on their level of export variety-driven innovation, measured by their level of export product concentration or alternatively their degree of economic complexity.