A tale of two growth engines: Interactive effects of monetary policy and intellectual property rights

Chu, Angus C. and Lai, Ching-Chong and Liao, Chih-Hsing (2010): A tale of two growth engines: Interactive effects of monetary policy and intellectual property rights.

Abstract

How do intellectual property rights that determine the market power of firms influence the growth and welfare effects of monetary policy? To analyze this question, we develop a monetary endogenous-growth model in which R&D and capital accumulation are both engines of long-run economic growth. We find that monetary expansion hurts economic growth and social welfare by reducing R&D and capital accumulation. Furthermore, a larger market power of firms strengthens these growth and welfare effects of monetary policy through the R&D channel but weakens these effects through the capital-accumulation channel. Therefore, whether the market power of firms amplifies or mitigates the welfare cost of inflation depends on the relative importance of the two growth engines. Finally, we calibrate the model using data in the United States and the Euro Area to quantitatively evaluate and compare the welfare cost of inflation in these two economies and find that the R&D channel dominates in both economies.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: economic growth; inflation; monetary policy; patent policy; R&D
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O30 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O40 - General; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E4 - Money and Interest Rates > E41 - Demand for Money

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