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on Intellectual Property Rights |
| By: | Oleg Yerokhin; GianCarlo Moschini (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how the strength of intellectual property rights (IPRs) affects investments in biological innovations when the value of an innovation is stochastically reduced to zero because of the evolution of pest resistance. We frame the problem as a research and development (R&D) investment game in a duopoly model of sequential innovation. We characterize the incentives to invest in R&D under two competing IPR regimes, which differ in their treatment of the follow-on innovations that become necessary because of pest adaptation. Depending on the magnitude of the R&D cost, ex ante firms might prefer an intellectual property regime with or without a "research exemption" provision. The study of the welfare function that also accounts for benefit spillovers to consumers—which is possible analytically under some parametric conditions, and numerically otherwise—shows that the ranking of the two IPR regimes depends critically on the extent of the R&D cost. |
| Keywords: | biological resistance, intellectual property rights, Markov perfect equilibrium, patents, research exemption, R&D, sequential innovation. JEL Classification: L00, O31, O34, Q28 |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:07-wp449&r=ipr |
| By: | Ryuhei Wakasugi (Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University); Banri Ito (Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry) |
| Abstract: | It is noteworthy that intra-firm technology transfer has grown rapidly in recent years as a major part of international technology transfer. This paper presents empirical analysis of the effect of stronger Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) on technology transfer from parent firm to its subsidiaries in foreign country. The results of empirical test, based on the firm-level panel data of Japanese MNCsf foreign subsidiaries, present that the stronger protection of IPRs has a positive effect on the promotion of intra-firm technology transfer after controlling market specific factors in the host countries as well as parent-subsidiary firm specific factors. They are consistent with our theoretical prediction and also the results of the previous studies based on US firm-level data. |
| Keywords: | Intellectual Property Rights, Technology Transfer, Multinational Firms, FDI |
| JEL: | C23 F20 F23 O30 O3 |
| Date: | 2007–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:632&r=ipr |
| By: | BOMSEL, Olivier; GEFFROY, Anne-Gaëlle |
| Abstract: | DRMs are intellectual property institutions. They transpose the empirical principle of copyright, which implicitly recognizes that specific ownership rules should be attached to non scientific creation, into the digital era. The legal protection of DRMs, a private means of enforcing content excludability, participates in the "privatization" of copyright protection. This, in turn, means that a proprietary software — governed by intellectual property rights, reinforced by public law — becomes the key to the vertical relations shaped by exclusive copyright. DRMs consequently represent a major stake in the competition to capture network effects in the content distribution vertical chain |
| Keywords: | copyright; distribution; DRMs; network effects |
| JEL: | D43 D62 L96 K21 |
| Date: | 2006–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:3515&r=ipr |
| By: | Muge Ozman (Science and Technology Policies Research Centre) |
| Abstract: | Recently work on technological change has emphasized the importance and implications of different knowledge bases among industries in terms of innovative potential. In some industries, products and processes have become more complex, as well as there appears to be increased convergence in some market segments. Although increasing attention has been given to features of knowledge bases, there have been limited empirical research on how to measure them. In this paper a method is proposed to measure empirically the breadth and depth dimensions of main technology fields, sectors and firms in the economy. For this purpose, we measure the knowledge bases of 30 main technology fields by using the concepts of breadth and depth. Breadth corresponds to the range of different subjects that a technology field draws upon. Depth refers to the extent to which a certain field is exploited in detail. We position the main technology fields in the breadth and depth space by utilizing the EPO (European Patent Office) database between 1978-2000. We also present the evolution of breadth and depth through time, as well as the breadth and depth dimensions of 40 largest firms in biotechnology and telecommunications. Our results reveal that the both technology fields and firms are largely scattered in the breadth and depth space. Biotechnology stands out to have the highest breadth and depth. |
| Keywords: | Patents, Breadth and depth, technology fields, knowledge base. |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:stpswp:0701&r=ipr |
| By: | Antonelli Cristiano (University of Turin) |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:200702&r=ipr |
| By: | Henrekson, Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | In this paper entrepreneurs are defined as agents who bring about economic change by combining their own effort with other factors of production in search of economic rents. The institutional setup is argued to determine both the supply and direction of entrepreneurial activity. Four key institutions are explored more closely: property rights protection, savings policies, taxation and the regulation of labor markets. Institutions have far-reaching effects on entrepreneurship, and they largely determine whether or not entrepreneurial activity will be socially productive. Due to the responsiveness of entrepreneurship to the institutional setup it is maintained that in-depth analyses of specific institutions are required in order to further our understanding of the determinants of entrepreneurial behavior and the economic effects of entrepreneurship. The paper also demonstrates that it is problematic to use self-employment as an empirical proxy for productive entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; Industrial policy; Innovation; Institutions; Labor security; Property rights; Regulation; Self-employment; Tax policy |
| JEL: | H32 L25 L50 M13 O31 P14 |
| Date: | 2007–06–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0707&r=ipr |