Using application-level data from the Patent Office from 2001 to 2012, merged with personnel data on patent examiners, we explore the extent to which the key decision of examiners — whether to allow a patent — is shaped by the granting styles of her surrounding peers. Taking a number of...

Despite the proliferation of user-fee financing structures of governmental agencies, little research has been conducted on the possible influence of such structures on agency decision-making. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the context of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). We first...