Licensing Innovation in Mixed Multinational Markets with Stackelberg Leadership

This article departs from existing literature by including licensing in a multinational market where the innovator is the Stackelberg leader. When the domestic mixed-ownership firm is the leading innovator, it focuses on local social welfare. Thus, the royalty it charges becomes a function of level privatization. As the private share in the domestic firm increases, the leader increases the royalty it charges. The relationship is reversed when the foreign firm becomes the innovator. The optimal licensing policy is a mix of a fixed fee and a royalty, with a difference that a Stackelberg leader charges more than a Cournot competitor.