The Economics of Trademarks

Authors

Jorge V. Ramos, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Economics

First Advisor's Name

Mira Wilkins

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Cem Karayalcin

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Maria Willumsen

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Fourth Advisor's Name

William Newburry

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

Trademarks, Intangible Assets, Intellectual Property, Brands

Date of Defense

4-23-2015

Abstract

There is extensive literature in several areas of academic study (marketing, international business, law, business finance, etc.) regarding brand names and trademarks. Different fields of study have analyzed the nature, applications and effects of brands and trademarks on firms and societies through their own unique perspective. But although brands and trademarks play a crucial and vital role in economic matters related to firms and societies, there does not exist a strong literature from the economic field approaching important issues related to them. Of special interest to us are the effects brands have on the strategies firms create and follow in order to address competition and get an advantage in specific markets, the role trademark creation plays in the economic development of a country and the spillover effects such development has on the aggregate world economy, and the protection patterns and strategies firms use in order to maximize the value of trademarks as economic assets and the economic benefit derived from the use of this form of intellectual property (and other brand related activities). With this dissertation we seek to contribute to the existing literature and to the better understanding of brands and trademarks from an economic point of view. In order to address the questions above, we formulated an economic model, used econometric tools and also performed an in-depth analysis of empirical data related to brands and trademarks. From our research we found that brands and trademarks play a major role in different aspects of the economic spectrum; they could give the firm an upper hand in a market, they could be a vehicle for economic advancement of societies when trademark protection is fostered and lastly that firms follow an idiosyncratic pattern of IP protection in order to generate and defend the value of these assets and in order to maximize the economic benefit of activities that are related to brands and trademarks. From our overall research we conclude that brands and trademarks are a powerful duality of tremendous potential for firms and countries that need to be protected and fostered and that additional research from the economic field is needed.

Identifier

FIDC000068

Recommended Citation

Ramos, Jorge V., "The Economics of Trademarks" (2015). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2231.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2231