An inventor's own knowledge is a key input in the innovation process. This knowledge can be built by interacting with … and patents. We document key empirical facts on inventors' productivity over the life cycle, inventors' research teams …, and interactions with other inventors. Among others, most patents are the result of collaborative work. Interactions with …

At least since Arrow (1962), the effects of appropriability on invention have been well studied, but there has been … terminate or commercialize the invention is driven by the current market value of the invention, as well as the option value of … risks. We find that better appropriability in the sense of more effective patent strength and secrecy has a strong negative …

. Accordingly, this paper offers an empirical comparison of patents in relation to the award of prizes for technological innovation … success of the invention. Prize-oriented institutions thus appear to be less systematic and not as market-oriented as patent …Such institutions as patent systems cannot be well understood without an assessment of technological creativity in …

Employing a sample of renowned U.S. inventors that combines biographical detail with information on the patents they … received over their careers, we highlight the impact of early U.S. patent institutions in providing broad access to economic … procedures for application, the United States deliberately created a patent system that allowed a much wider range, in …

knowledge is an input into internal invention, and thus, more valuable to firms with inventive capability. Using a simple model … of innovation and imitation, we explore how inventive capability affects a firm's R&D investments, and thus whether and … innovation and the division of innovative labor among US manufacturing firms, we find that high capability firms tend to use …

Patent pools allow a group of firms to combine their patents as if they were a single firm. Theoretical models predict … that pools encourage innovation in pool technologies, albeit at the cost of innovation in substitutes. Empirical evidence … is scarce because modern pools are too recent to allow empirical analyses. This article examines data on patents and …

trade in patent rights was closely associated with increases in specialization at invention, as well as advances in rates of … invention more generally. The patent system is often celebrated for the stimulus to invention provided by granting limited … technological knowledge. Relying on evidence compiled from patent records, we argue that the evolution of a market for technology …

institutional supports that made this market possible was, of course, the patent system, which created secure and tradable property … rights in invention. But trade was also facilitated by the emergence of intermediaries who economized on the information … costs associated with assessing the value of inventions and helped to match sellers and buyers of patent rights. Patent …

effect on innovation. We develop a simple "trapped factor" model of innovation that is consistent with these empirical …