Globalization of Law Enforcement: a Study of Transnational Public-Private Partnerships Against Intellectual Property Crimes

This study explores the issue area of globalization of law enforcement at the example of transnational public-private partnerships (PPPs) against intellectual property (IP) crimes. It provides a comprehensive survey of all such PPPs that involve a global public international organization (IOs). The study covers the PPP activities of Interpol, of the World Customs Organization (WCO), of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and of the World Health Organization (WHO). As the term PPP is used in very different ways in the literature and as no existing definition appeared suitable to define all PPPs in this comprehensive survey, a new definition and typology of PPPs is developed and applied in this study.

Based on the analysis of each case and their comparison, this study inductively develops theory that explains the studied PPP activities. This theory consists of three hypotheses, which concern (A) the formation, (B) the type, and (C) the continuation or change of transnational PPPs against IP crimes. These three hypotheses are based on different configurations of five influencing factors. Those are (1) cooperation in the pursuit of resource gains, (2) common ground, (3) the PPP management, (4) the representation of stakeholders, and (5) the PPP policy.