A Two-Staged Approach to Technology Entrepreneurship: Differential Effects of Intellectual Property Rights

Abstract

In this article we examine how the strength of the intellectual property rights (IPR) regime drives technology entrepreneurship innovation (TEI) that comprise novel unfamiliar technological products and new business models, which in turn lead to new product-market combinations. We consider TEI to be a two-stage process that involves access and use of new technologies and technological resources by entrepreneurs. While stronger IPR may constrain easy availability of new technologies and technological resources for entrepreneurs, use of these leads to TEI. We suggest that stronger IPR regimes could lead to TEI and its positive effect is felt through easy accessibility of the latest technologies and technology resources by entrepreneurs. Our model contributes to the understanding of the effect of strong IPR regimes on the different stages of the innovation process.

Keywords

• entrepreneurship
• innovation
• intellectual property rights
• technology