All (International) Politics isLocal: Economic Development and Intellectual Property RightsRegimes.

IR theorists typically explain the development of intellectual property rights (IPR) regimes in developing countries as a result of coercive diplomacy on the part of economically developed states seeking to protect the interests of business constituents. We find this model theoretically flawed and suggest an alternative political economy model, derived from the New Institutional Economics literature, that takes account of the internal dynamics of developing states. As those states develop economically, indigenous entrepreneurs make greater demands for IPR protection. Only after developing states are capable of enforcing IPR are they responsive to diplomacy. We demonstrate that domestic factors are statistically significant in the development of IPR regimes in Japan, Korea and the Republic of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]