nep-ipr New Economics Papers
on Intellectual Property Rights
Issue of 2008‒01‒12
four papers chosen by
Roland Kirstein
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

  1. Intellectual Property Rights and Competition Policy By Ganslandt, Mattias
  2. Driving Forces for Research and Development Strategies : An Empirical Analysis Based on Firm-level Panel Data By Martin Woerter
  3. Policy and Product Differentiations Encourage the International Transfer of Environmental Technologies By Hattori, Keisuke
  4. Publications: German Economic Research Institutes on Track By Rolf Ketzler; Klaus F. Zimmermann

  1. By: Ganslandt, Mattias (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))
    Abstract: Intellectual property rights and competition policy are intimately related. In this paper I survey the economic literature analyzing the interaction between intellectual property law and competition law and how the boundary between these two policies is drawn in practice. Recognizing that intellectual property rights and competition law can interact in many different ways, the presentation focuses on several key issues. The economic literature on the interaction between competition law and intellectual property rights shows that these regulatory systems are consistent in terms of basic principles. Significant tensions exist, however, and it is difficult to balance IPR and competition law in practice. The significant differences in approach between the United States and the European Union simply reflect the underlying reality that efforts to achieve a sensible balance do not result in policy harmonization.
    Keywords: IPR; Competition Policy; Antitrust Policy; Cross-licensing; Refusal to License; Patent Pools; Tying; Patent Litigation
    JEL: K21 L41 O31 O34
    Date: 2008–01–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0726&r=ipr
  2. By: Martin Woerter (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich)
    Abstract: This paper investigates empirically different ways to organise R&D within Swiss firms. Based on a longitudinal data set comprising three cross sections (1999, 2002, and 2005) of the Swiss innovation survey, four different types of R&D strategies could have been separated; firms combine in-house R&D with R&D co-operations (coop), or in-house R&D with external R&D (buy), or they conduct in-house R&D, external R&D and R&D co-operations (mixed), or they exclusively rely on in-house R&D (make). It is the aim of this paper to understand what drives firms to go for different strategies. Based on econometric estimations controlling for correlations between the dependent variables and endogeneity among the independent variables it was found that concepts related to the absorptive capacity, incoming spillovers and appropriability, the importance of different knowledge resources, the competitive environment, costs and skill aspects as well as technological uncertainty are essential factors to determine firm’s decision to choose a specific way to organise R&D.
    Keywords: Research and Development, R&D Co-operations, Empirical Analysis (Firm Panel), R&D Strategies
    JEL: O30
    Date: 2007–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:07-184&r=ipr
  3. By: Hattori, Keisuke
    Abstract: This paper investigates the welfare effects of international transfers of environmental technologies in open economies with international oligopoly and transboundary pollution, and shows that policy differentiation between the donor and recipient countries and/or product differentiation between the donor and recipient firms play a critical role in obtaining a bilateral agreement on the transfer policy between nations. The results arise from the fact that policy differentiation weakens the strategic relationships in environmental policy setting between governments and that product differentiation weakens the strategic relationships in quantity choices between firms.
    Keywords: Technology Transfer; Environmental Tax; Oligopoly
    JEL: F18 H23
    Date: 2007–09–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:6334&r=ipr
  4. By: Rolf Ketzler (DIW Berlin); Klaus F. Zimmermann (DIW Berlin, IZA and University of Bonn)
    Abstract: The request for a strengthening of academic research at the German economic research institutes by the German Science Council more than a decade ago was founded on the crucial insight that sound policy advice - the traditional task of the institutes - can only be guaranteed in the long term if it is based on applied research carried out within the institutes themselves. Based on publications in academic journals, the central criterion of research evaluation, research output has improved remarkably in scope and quality and has involved an ever rising number of scholars within the institutes. It can be considered to be a substantial success of German reform policy, which should be internationally recognized. The present study demonstrates the implications of different methods of filtering and weighting research output to measure publication performance. The ranking of the institutes computed here on the basis of a wide range of alternative concepts provides fairly robust findings. The results are distorted, however, if they are based on a highly selective list of journals as was the case in previous literature.
    Keywords: economic research institutes, research evaluation, publication measurement
    JEL: A11 I L31
    Date: 2007–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3271&r=ipr

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