Patenting abroad: Evidence from OECD countries

•Analyze OECD countries dataset to assess the effect of imitation risk and exports on patenting abroad.•Decision to patent abroad depends on exporting behaviour and imitation risk.•A discussion on global manufacturing and supply chains is provided.

The hypothesis that when the imitation risk is supported from exports then the decision to patent abroad is intensified is coming under scrutiny in the present paper, using data from 28 OECD countries. We investigate this issue, via two routes: the full sample for all source countries and a group-based. Higher exports increase the impact of imitation risk in the destination country on patenting abroad. The impact is positively correlated with the source country's size. Business cycle impact is statistically significant and positive but the counter intuitive sign of the IPR regime in the destination country demands further investigation. Finally, the distance variable is statistically significant and negative, verifying gravity model.