Intellectual Property Rights and Agricultural Development: Evidence from a Worldwide Index of IPRs in Agriculture (1961-2018)

This paper revises and updates the Campi-Nuvolari index of intellectual property protection for plant varieties. The new index provides yearly scores for the period 1961–2018 for 104 countries, which have legislation on plant variety protection in force. The new evidence highlights the ongoing shift towards more similar and stronger systems of intellectual property rights (IPRs) worldwide, regardless of individual characteristics of countries. The signing of the TRIPS and trade agreements with TRIPS-Plus provisions are major drivers of this process. In addition, certain characteristics of countries such as the regulatory environment, the level of human capital, the importance of agricultural production, and openness to trade, are also significant determinants of the evolution of IPRs systems. We conclude by discussing other possible applications of the data.

本文对坎皮-努沃拉里（Campi-Nuvolari）植物品种知识产权保护指数进行了修订与更新。新版指数为104个已施行植物品种保护立法的国家提供了1961年至2018年的年度评分。全新研究证据显示，全球范围内知识产权（Intellectual Property Rights, IPRs）体系正持续朝着更趋统一且保护力度更强的方向发展，不受各国个体特征的影响。《与贸易有关的知识产权协定》（TRIPS）以及包含超TRIPS条款的贸易协定的签署，是这一演进进程的核心驱动力。此外，各国的监管环境、人力资本水平、农业生产的重要性以及贸易开放度等因素，同样是知识产权体系演进的重要决定因素。本文最后探讨了该数据集的其他潜在应用方向。