Intellectual property rights (IPRs)--patents, copyrights, and trademarks--have moved from an arcane area of legal analysis and a policy backwater to the forefront of global economic policymaking. Apple and Samsung's patent battle illustrates the importance of IPRs and how they impact everyone. Private Rights and Public Problems is a completed update of the seminal, oft-cited 2000 study, Intellectual Property Rights in the Global Economy. This new book documents the remarkable global changes in IPRs policies that have taken place since the founding of the World Trade Organization...

Presents important analyses of international trade, technology transfer and the global economics of intellectual property rights. This book includes chapters, ranging from theoretical modeling to empirical and statistical analysis, and policy contributions. It addresses questions in the determinants of trade, foreign direct investment, and more.