Patents and Research Investments: Assessing the Empirical Evidence
American Economic Review
vol. 106,
no. 5, May 2016
(pp. 183-87)
Abstract
A well-developed theoretical literature--dating back at least to Nordhaus (1969)--has analyzed optimal patent policy design. We re-present the core trade-off of the Nordhaus model and highlight an empirical question which emerges from the Nordhaus framework as a key input into optimal patent policy design: namely, what is the elasticity of R&D investment with respect to the patent term? We then review the--surprisingly small--body of empirical evidence that has been developed on this question over the nearly half century since the publication of Nordhaus's book.Citation
Budish, Eric, Benjamin N. Roin, and Heidi Williams. 2016. "Patents and Research Investments: Assessing the Empirical Evidence." American Economic Review, 106 (5): 183-87. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20161091Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D21 Firm Behavior: Theory
- D25 Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
- G31 Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies; Capacity
- O32 Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
- O34 Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital