Intellectual property and economic performance

In the medium to long term, innovation is the main driving force of economic growth in leading economies. Other possible sources of economic growth, such as bringing a larger share of the population into employment, installing more machinery and equipment of a given vintage, or using more of the country’s land, eventually fizzle out because of the law of diminishing returns: the additional output that can be generated by employing an additional person, or by deploying an additional machine of a given vintage, will grow smaller and smaller, the more people are already employed, or the more machines are already in use, until eventually the costs of using more human resources or more capital exceed the benefits.

Related Subject(s): International Law and Justice