The impact of industry characteristics and IPR policy on foreign direct investment

This paper investigates the interaction of industry characteristics and intellectual property rights (IPRs) on multinational firm behavior. The results suggest that firms in industries with high capital costs are more likely to maintain control over production knowledge in countries with less intellectual property protection by engaging in foreign direct investment (FDI). Moreover, when IPRs are strong, firms in industries with high investment in research and development (R&D) are more likely to enter a market by licensing to an unaffiliated host firm.