We construct a tractable general equilibrium model of cumulative innovation and growth, in which new ideas strictly … lower than the social plannerś benchmark, which suggests a role for patent policy. We focus on a "non-infringing inventive … the rate of innovation, as well as a separate optimal required inventive step that maximizes welfare, with the former …

We develop a Schumpeterian growth model to analyze the interaction between patent policy and firms’ internal strategies … to capture value from innovations. We consider two dimensions of patent policy: backward protection against imitation and … forward protection, also known as blocking patents, against subsequent innovation that builds on a patented technology …

O'donoghue and Zweimüller (2004, J. of Econ. Growth), a seminal work, showed that broadening leading breadth in patent … protection can stimulate innovation. However, the empirical literature has consistently found skeptical results on the positive … our model, broadening leading breadth can negatively affect innovation because each innovator is incentivized to free …