The impact of intellectual property laws on national economic development is complex and poorly understood. With limited success, studies have attempted to analyze the degree to which intellectual property protection and enforcement spurs development and the point at which it ceases to contribute, or worse, hinders development. Prior to the adoption of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), the lack of harmonization in intellectual property protection across countries enabled analysis of locational determinants for investment and knowledge transfer. Analysts hypothesized that the TRIPS Agreement would reduce investment selectivity decisions based on strength of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection, and investors would focus on regions with high rate of returns.