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on Industrial Organization |
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Issue of 2011‒06‒25
three papers chosen by |
| By: | Bruno Van Pottelsberghe; Matthis de Saint-Georges |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a quality index for patent systems. The index is composed of nine operational design components that help shape the transparency of patent systems and affect the extent to which they comply with patentability conditions. Seven factors are related to rules and regulations (e.g. grace period, opposition process and continuation-inparts), while two factors measure patent offices’ resource allocation (i.e. workload per examiner and incentives). The index is computed for 32 national patent systems, it displays a high heterogeneity across countries. Cross-sectional quantitative analyses suggest that the demand for patent rights -or the propensity to patent- is lower in patent systems with a higher quality index, controlling for research efforts, patent fees and the “strength” of enforcement mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | patent system; quality; patent propensity; intellectual property |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/88986&r=ind |
| By: | Philippe Aghion; Julian Boulanger; Elie Cohen |
| Abstract: | Industrial policy has a bad name: â??picking winnersâ?? and thus distorting competition, while exposing government to capture by vested interests. But there are reasons for a rethink. First, climate change: without government intervention to jump-start massive private investment in clean technologies, governments, by default, encourage investment in dirtier technologies. Second, a new post-crisis realism: laissez-faire complacency by many governments has led to mis-investment in the non-tradable sector at the expense of growth-rich tradables. Third, China â?? and some other emerging economies â?? are big deployers of growth-enhancing sectoral policies. The challenge for Europe is how it can design and govern sectoral policies that are competition-friendly and thus growth-enhancing. |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polbrf:566&r=ind |
| By: | Martin Berka; Michael B. Devereux; Thomas Rudolph |
| Abstract: | We study a newly released data set of scanner prices for food products in a large Swiss online supermarket. We find that average prices change about every two months, but when we exclude temporary sales, prices are extremely sticky, changing on average once every three years. Non-sale price behavior is broadly consistent with menu cost models of sticky prices. When we focus specifically on the behavior of sale prices, however, we find that the characteristics of price adjustment seems to be substantially at odds with standard theory. |
| JEL: | E3 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17126&r=ind |