This study analyzes how patent protection affects innovation in an R&D-based growth model with elastic labor supply. We find that increasing patent breadth may generate an inverted-U effect on innovation depending on whether the model features the knowledge-driven or lab-equipment innovation...

This study develops an R&D-based growth model with vertical and horizontal innovation to shed some light on the current debate on whether patent protection stimulates or stifles innovation. We analyze the effects of patent protection in the form of blocking patents. We show that patent...

The legal monopoly granted by the patent system has often been criticized for its inefficiency, which is exacerbated by the peculiarities of knowledge as a public good. In this paper we aim at studying more deeply the latter concern. Hence we build a model in which monopolistic exploitation does...