The importance of intellectual property rights in achieving a knowledge-based economy

The age of wisdom, makes knowledge as a new institution to production function and widened the gap between developing and developed countries by creating an upward efficiency in the production process. In the meantime, the fundamental importance of the key role of tacit knowledge in the success of the knowledge-based model is very crucial. Acquiring tacit knowledge requires time and experience; therefore, the manufacturing industry is the way to receive and expand the storage of tacit knowledge. The learning by doing takes place in manufacturing firms and if the firms shift to large scale companies and become more sustainable in their production activities, it will be possible to accumulate tacit knowledge and develop organizational capacity and its intergenerational transmission. Moreover, with knowledge as one of the most important factor of the production function, it’s become as Individuals' assets which they can exchange and benefit from it. However, if people feel insecure about receiving the benefits of their assets, they try to hide their knowledge and refuse to enter it into the production cycle. Hence, the importance of an efficient intellectual property rights system as one of the institutional requirements for the realization of a knowledge-based economy is fundamental. Knowledge-based economic data indicate the unfavorable and unsuitable position of Iran in knowledge-based products in the international arena which rooted in the lack of institutional infrastructure needed to acquire and transfer knowledge.