Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

6-2026

Abstract

Extant research maintains that firms benefit from strong institutional protection as they exploit the proprietary intellectual property. We reexamine this contention in a prominent platform context where complementors, rather than the platform firm, create and own much of the intellectual property. Drawing on the insights of institutional economics, we theorize about platform firms holding bundles of property rights to user contributions and explicate how platforms deploy property rights to user-generated content differently than proprietary content. We argue that both platforms' proprietary content and user-generated content are positively associated with platform performance. However, while IPR protection of the host country strengthens the association between proprietary content and platform performance due to institutional protection on proprietary resources, it weakens the association between user-generated content and performance, as stronger IPR protection also enhances complementors’ ability to appropriate returns from their own creations. Our analysis using a unique large-scale cross-country dataset finds empirical support for the hypotheses. We discuss our contributions to research on intellectual property rights, platforms and institutions.

Keywords

Intellectual property protection, Property rights, Appropriability, User-generated content, Platform

Discipline

Intellectual Property Law | Strategic Management Policy | Technology and Innovation

Research Areas

Strategy and Organisation

Publication

Long Range Planning

Volume

59

Issue

3

First Page

1

Last Page

19

ISSN

0024-6301

Identifier

10.1016/j.lrp.2026.102643

Publisher

Elsevier

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2026.102643

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