A low-quality patent system threatens to slow the pace of technological progress. Concerns about low patent quality are supported by estimates from litigation studies suggesting that the majority of patents granted by the U.S. patent office should not have been issued. This paper proposes a new...

The debate regarding the determinants of persistent abnormal profits is re-examined using a new approach to the measurement of profits which explicitly accounts for intangible capital. Abnormal profits are estimated using data on tangible and intangible capital for 2800 Australian firms over a...