The main objective of this study is to provide a theoretical and empirical framework for analyzing the relationship between economic growth and the property rights institute in different countries. The key idea is that property rights are multifarious and can be classified according to their role in economic development. These days it is the intellectual property rights that impact the economic development through propensity to innovate. However the protection of intellectual property rights does matter for economic growth only in a well-developed political and legal environment. We find that economic performance in high developed countries is to a greater extent contingent upon quality of the protection of intellectual property rights than in less developed economies. This finding raises an important question about the credibility of the preponderant approach based on a simple unification of countries with different institutional framework under one umbrella when analyzing their effects on growth. Such an approach may provide inconsistent and misleading results and lead to false conclusions and wrong policies.