The objective of patent rights is to foster innovation and economic growth. However, to date, there is little robust evidence that patents ldquo;workrdquo; as intended. Here, we study the impact of changes in effective patent rights within panels of up to 54 manufacturing industries in up to 72...

Here, I study the effect of trade secrets laws on R&D and patenting. Stronger secrecy protection could increase or reduce R&D. By reducing spillovers, stronger protection might reduce or raise the return to R&D, depending on whether spillover and own R&D are complements or substitutes. By...