The Effect of Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation on the Economic Growth of G15 Countries

On of the effective factors in Economic Growth, especially, in developing countries is innovation. The using of knowledge and innovation results in rapid developments in production technology and by improving the production process or creating the new products brings about to increaseproductivity and use of production inputs. Generally, technology is divided into two parts: hardware-related and software-related technology. Hardwarerelated sector is includes equipments and machinery and software-related sector is an outcome of intellectual creations of the human mind and “intellectual property rights” is responsible for protecting this sector.Protecting of intellectual property rights by securing advantages and benefits of innovation to innovators creates a positive effect on innovation. In this paper, we investigate the way which intellectual property rights affect economic growth through the channel of innovation during the period 1995-2008 in G15 countries. The results of this study indicate the relatively inappropriate status of G15 countries in protecting intellectual property rights. However it must be noted that, Chile and Malaysia are in a relatively good position with regard to intellectual property rights and most of the innovation indicators, and experience a relatively stable economic growth.Although Iran is not in appropriate position in terms of intellectual property rights, but nevertheless in some innovation indicators possess a suitable position than other countries studied, it seems that is due to the increasing growth of graduate studies and the overflow of oil revenues. Therefore, a more serious protection of intellectual property rights in G15 member, leads to joint research with the aim of creating competitive advantages, making the scale of production economic through joint investments, exchange of business parties, stablishing joint companies, exchange of technical knowledge and experts, holding trade fairs, and … that will help to development of economic and regional cooperation between member states.