Technological development and software piracy

In this paper, the authors analyze the differences in piracy rates from one country to another. Like previous papers on the topic, they find that more developed countries have lower incentives for pirating. Unlike previous papers, they find that the piracy rate is positively correlated with the tax burden rate but negatively correlated with the domestic market size and exports over GDP. The authors also separate the impacts of education and R&D on piracy, and find two effects with opposite signs. Moreover, they find that those countries with smaller, more efficient bureaucracies are likely to protect intellectual property more effectively. Finally, they show that the spread of access to the Internet is negatively correlated with the software piracy rate.

本研究中，作者分析了各国软件盗版率的差异。与该领域既往研究一致，作者发现经济发展水平更高的国家，其民众的盗版动机更低。与此前研究不同的是，作者发现软件盗版率与税负率呈正相关，而与国内市场规模及出口占GDP的比重呈负相关。作者还拆分了教育与研发对盗版行为的影响，发现二者的作用效应符号截然相反。此外，作者发现，官僚机构规模更小、效率更高的国家，其知识产权保护成效往往更为显著。最后，研究表明互联网接入的普及程度与软件盗版率呈负相关。