A influência do direito de propriedade intelectual na internacionalização das multilatinas

Abstract

In 1995, the TRIPS agreement was created, which established minimum standards for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for all member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Since then, studies have shown the influence of the increase in the IPD for the economies that adopted it. This research analyzes the effect of IPR on the receipt of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the internationalization of local companies, based on the global business literature. These concepts share similar conceptual roots since the increase in the level of IPR protection promotes an improvement in the country's domestic environment, which will be absorbed by the companies installed in them, enabling their internationalization. Thus, the objective of this study is to verify whether the increase in the level of IPR protection by Latin American countries has influenced the internationalization of local companies in this region. For this purpose, multigroup analysis in structural equation modeling (MGA-PLS) was used, with data collected from secondary sources. The research sample consisted of 88 multilatinas from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. The time horizon covers the years 2005 to 2019 with data collected annually. The main results found show that the increase in the DPI, in general, did not cause an increase in the flow of FDI receipts in Latin American countries. This relationship was only established in the models from Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. The entry of FDI led to an increase in the specific advantages of local companies and countries, however, they were not enough to promote the internationalization of multilatinas. Furthermore, it was possible to verify that in the general model and specifically in Chile and Mexico, the increase in the level of IPR protection influenced the multilatinas in these countries to internationalize their activities.