The research, conducted by a team at SIMAD University in Mogadishu, surveyed 220 startup founders, co-founders, owners, managers, and senior employees across Somalia’s economy. Using a structured questionnaire and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling, or PLS-SEM, the researchers tested three hypotheses: whether intellectual property protection drives startup growth, whether legal awareness does the same, and whether legal awareness amplifies the growth benefits of IP protection. The answer to the first two questions was a clear yes. The answer to the third was no, and that null result may be the study’s most consequential finding.

The intellectual case for the study rests on three complementary theories. The Resource-Based View holds that firms gain sustained competitive advantage from resources that are valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and hard to substitute. For startups, intangible assets such as trademarks, software, trade secrets, brand identity, and business know-how fit this description precisely. Resource Orchestration Theory adds that resources alone do not generate performance; managers must structure, bundle, and leverage them effectively. Institutional Theory completes the picture by noting that the value of any resource depends on the surrounding legal and regulatory environment. Somalia, where trademark registration exists through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry but specialized IP adjudication does not, provided an ideal natural laboratory for testing how these forces interact.

The measurement of the three constructs was rigorous by the standards of survey research in fragile contexts. Each construct was captured with five indicators on a five-point Likert scale, yielding fifteen items in total. Intellectual property protection items asked whether startups take steps to protect brands, business names, software, designs, and creative works, and whether they use formal registration, contracts, or confidentiality measures. Legal awareness items probed understanding of registration procedures, ownership rights, licensing, infringement risks, and where to obtain legal advice. Startup growth was measured perceptually through sales, customer base, market reach, expansion, and competitive position, a pragmatic choice given that many young Somali firms lack audited financial statements.

The statistical machinery confirmed the instruments were sound. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.898 to 0.923, composite reliability from 0.925 to 0.942, and average variance extracted exceeded 0.50 for all constructs. Discriminant validity was verified using both the Fornell-Larcker criterion and the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio, with all HTMT values below the conservative 0.85 threshold. Descriptively, respondents reported moderate levels across the board: intellectual property protection scored highest at a mean of 3.251, followed by startup growth at 3.135 and legal awareness at 3.087, painting a picture of an ecosystem where awareness is emerging but not yet institutionalized.

The structural model delivered its verdict with unusual clarity. Intellectual property protection had a positive and significant effect on startup growth, with a path coefficient of 0.271, a t-value of 4.946, and a p-value below 0.001. Legal awareness performed even better, with a coefficient of 0.394, a t-value of 6.839, and an effect size of 0.204, making it the stronger of the two direct predictors. Together, the model explained 27.1 percent of the variance in startup growth, a meaningful share given that factors such as access to finance, founder experience, and market competition were not modeled. But the interaction term between IP protection and legal awareness was statistically indistinguishable from zero, with a coefficient of 0.029, a p-value of 0.580, and a negligible effect size of 0.001.

That null moderation result carries real theoretical weight. The researchers had hypothesized, consistent with Resource Orchestration Theory, that legally aware founders would extract more growth value from formal IP protection. Instead, legal awareness appears to operate as an independent growth-enabling capability rather than a conditional amplifier. Entrepreneurs who understand contracts, ownership, confidentiality, and dispute prevention seem to grow through better business practices broadly, not specifically through leveraging IP rights more aggressively. The authors suggest several explanations: Somalia’s IP institutions may not yet be robust enough for awareness to amplify IP’s commercial value; startups may rely on informal protection mechanisms such as reputation, networks, and first-mover advantage; and many sampled firms were young, with 43.2 percent aged one to three years and 45 percent employing one to five people, potentially too early in their lifecycle for sophisticated IP strategy to matter.

The findings also sit within a broader and more contested debate about intellectual property in developing economies. Recent scholarship, including a 2024 literature review on IP and technological catch-up, finds that the relationship between IP protection and innovation is nonlinear and heavily dependent on a country’s institutional and technological maturity. Stronger protection tends to benefit advanced economies, while lower-income countries often depend more on knowledge diffusion, imitation, and adaptation. The World Intellectual Property Report 2024 similarly emphasizes that IP rights shape not just incentives to create but the speed and distribution of technology diffusion. For Somalia, the implication is that the policy goal should not be maximal exclusivity but a balanced system that protects legitimate entrepreneurial innovation while preserving access to imported knowledge and adaptive innovation.

Practically, the study points toward concrete interventions. Startup support programs in Somalia, and in comparable fragile economies, should extend beyond finance and incubation to include practical legal-awareness training covering registration, ownership, contracts, licensing, confidentiality, and legal-risk management. Universities, incubators, and business associations could establish startup legal clinics, distribute simplified IP guidance and contract templates, and build referral pathways to legal professionals. Government could digitalize registration procedures and strengthen commercial dispute resolution. The authors caution, however, that education alone cannot substitute for institutional reform; improving enforcement predictability remains essential if formal IP protection is to generate greater commercial value.

The study’s limitations are candidly acknowledged. Purposive non-probability sampling means the findings are analytical rather than population-level estimates. The cross-sectional design captures associations, not causation, and self-reported perceptual measures may introduce bias. The model’s 27.1 percent explained variance leaves substantial room for unmeasured factors such as access to finance, digital capability, and institutional trust. Future research, the authors suggest, should employ longitudinal or mixed-method designs, compare institutional settings, and examine whether IP-supported growth translates into employment quality, affordability, and broader sustainable development outcomes. For now, the message from Mogadishu is striking: in fragile markets, knowing the law may matter more than the law itself.

Subject of Research: Effects of intellectual property protection and legal awareness on startup growth in Somalia

Article Title: Intellectual property protection, legal awareness, and startup growth: evidence from Somalia

Article References: Osman, O. A., Ahmed, A. A., Isak, M. L., & Hussein, F. M. (2026). Intellectual property protection, legal awareness, and startup growth: evidence from Somalia. Frontiers in Sociology, 11, Article 1900259. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2026.1900259

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2026.1900259

Keywords: intellectual property, startup growth, legal awareness, Somalia, PLS-SEM, entrepreneurship, fragile states, Resource-Based View, institutional theory, developing economies, innovation, business law