We examine the Nash equilibria of a game where two national governments set patent breadth strategically. Broader patents make R&D more attractive, but the effect on static efficiency is nonmonotonic. In a North.South model, where only the North can innovate, harmonization of patent breadth...

We characterize the optimal tariff bindings and the escape clause in a trade agreement among asymmetric countries that are subject to idiosyncratic political-economy shocks. We assume that shocks are private information, and that escape clauses allow the use of a costly monitoring technology to...