This paper provides a survey on studies that analyze the macroeconomic effects of intellectual property rights (IPR). The first part of this paper introduces different patent-policy instruments and reviews their effects on R&D and economic growth. This part also discusses the distortionary...

Prior to the Copenhagen meeting on developing a new framework for climate-change policy there were sharp differences between the positions of developed and developing countries regarding the role of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in fostering international technology transfer (ITT)....

A special characteristic of the patent system is that it features multiple patent-policy levers that can be employed by policymakers. In this study, we develop a quality-ladder model to analyze the optimal mix of patent instruments. Specifically, we consider (a) patent breadth and (b) the...

Recent empirical studies suggest a need for a ?exible patent regime responding to industry characteristics. In practice, sector-speci?c modi?cations of patent strength already exist but lack theoretical foundation. This paper intends to make up for this neglect by scrutinizing in what direction...

This article considers innovation, intellectual assets and intellectual property rights (IPRs) since 1990, with particular regard to the high-income countries. It begins with a discussion of the changing nature of innovation and the increasing importance of intellectual assets, then continues...

We explore the consequences of the utility requirement on speed of innovation and welfare. A weak utility requirement means that an intermediate technology with no immediate application or commercial value is patentable. Using a model of two stage innovation with free entry and trade secrecy, we...

This paper describes how entrepreneurial firms can use superior architectural knowledge to open up a technical system to gain strategic advantage. The strategy involves, first, identifying "bottlenecks" in the existing system, and then creating a new open architecture that isolates the...

We show that when the researcher’s (observable but not contractible) contribution to innovation is crucial, a covenant not to compete (CNC) reduces effort and profits under both spot and relational contracts. Having no CNC allows the researcher to leave for a rival. This alleviates a...

When companies decide to engage in technology transfer through licensing to other firms, they have two basic options: to use standard licensing contracts or to set-up more elaborate partnership-embedded licensing agreements. We find that broader partnership-embedded licensing agreements are...

This paper presents a two-countries dynamic model of Schumpeterian growth with two innovative R&D sectors in each country: a vertical R&D sector that improves the quality of existing differentiated products and a horizontal R&D sector that creates new differentiated products. The two countries...