A Comparative Investigation of Knowledge-Based Economy in Iran and Regional Countries with an Emphasis on Intellectual Property Rights

The revolution in knowledge and the key role of knowledge in production has significantly changed the present economy so that production amount is no longer an appropriate index to estimate the economic potential of a country. Therefore, the new index of national economy in the post-industrial era has been the rate of knowledge and knowledge-based production as well as high-tech exports. A basic requirement to convert into a knowledge-based economy is the establishments of efficient intellectual property rights that can help produce new knowledge through motivating inventors and increase foreign investment. Such institution can increase efficiency in economic sectors and reduce transaction costs. Despite the necessity for an efficient intellectual property rights, the establishment of this institution has faced challenges in Iran due to the ambiguity of the scope of intellectual property rights and optimal support needed to provide for these rights. The present study investigated Iran's potential to become the first economy in southwest Asia consistent with Iran's 20-Year Outlook Document. This was studied with regard to knowledge-based economy and intellectual property rights. A comparison between Iran and other competing regional countries showed that Turkey has a better status in terms of most of the indices which, based on knowledge-based economy, poses a serious challenge to fulfill the 20-Year Outlook goals in Iran.