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on Innovation |
| By: | Michael Noel; Mark Schankerman |
| Abstract: | Strategic patenting is widely believed to raise the costs of innovating, especially in industriescharacterised by cumulative innovation. This paper studies the effects of strategic patentingon R&D, patenting and market value in the computer software industry. We focus on two keyaspects: patent portfolio size which affects bargaining power in patent disputes, and thefragmentation of patent rights (.patent thickets.) which increases the transaction costs ofenforcement. We develop a model that incorporates both effects, together with R&Dspillovers. Using panel data for the period 1980-99, we find evidence that both strategicpatenting and R&D spillovers strongly affect innovation and market value of software firms. |
| Keywords: | patents, anti-commons, patent thickets, R&D spillovers, market value |
| JEL: | L43 L86 O31 O32 O33 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0740&r=ino |
| By: | Harhoff, Dietmar; Hoisl, Karin |
| Abstract: | Based on a survey of the inventors of 9,017 European patented inventions, this paper provides new information about the characteristics of European inventors, the sources of their knowledge, the importance of formal and informal collaborations, the motivations to invent, and the actual use and economic value of the patents. |
| Keywords: | inventor; patent; incentives; innovation; patent system; patent value |
| JEL: | J24 O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:1261&r=ino |
| By: | Carlos H. de Brito Cruz; Luiz de Mello |
| Abstract: | Brazil's main challenge in innovation policy is to encourage the business sector to engage in productivity-enhancing innovative activities. At 1% of GDP, R&D spending (both public and private) is comparatively low by OECD standards and is carried out predominantly by the government. Most scientists work in public universities and research institutions, rather than in the business sector. Output indicators, such as the number of patents held abroad, suggest that there is much scope for improvement. Academic patenting effort is being stepped up and should be facilitated by the easing of restrictions on the transfer and sharing of proceeds of intellectual property rights between businesses and public universities and research institutions. Innovation policy is beginning to focus on the potential synergies among science and technology promotion, R&D support and trade competitiveness. To be successful in boosting business innovation, these policies will need to be complemented by measures aimed at tackling the shortage of skills in the labour force; this shortage is among the most important deterrents to innovation in Brazil, particularly against the backdrop of a widening gap in tertiary educational attainment with respect to the OECD area. <P>Stimuler l'innovation en Brésil <BR>En matière de politique d'innovation, le principal enjeu pour le Brésil est d?encourager le secteur des entreprises à s'engager dans des activités innovantes génératrices de gains de productivité. À 1% du PIB, les dépenses de R-D (publiques et privées) sont relativement faibles par comparaison avec les niveaux observés dans les pays de l?OCDE, et elles sont surtout imputables au secteur public. La plupart des chercheurs travaillent dans des universités et des établissements de recherche publics, et non dans le secteur des entreprises. Les indicateurs des résultats, tels que le nombre de brevets déposés à l'étranger, donnent à penser que la situation pourrait être sensiblement améliorée. Les universités déposent de plus en plus de brevets et il faudrait faciliter cette évolution en assouplissant les règles qui restreignent le transfert et le partage des recettes tirées des droits de propriété intellectuelle entre les entreprises et les universités et établissements de recherche publics. La politique d?innovation commence à mettre l'accent sur les synergies potentielles entre la promotion de la recherche scientifique et technologique, le soutien à la R-D et la compétitivité commerciale. Pour parvenir à stimuler l?innovation dans les entreprises, il faudra compléter ces politiques par des mesures destinées à remédier à la pénurie de qualifications dans la population active qui constitue l?un des principaux obstacles à l'innovation compte tenu notamment du retard de plus en plus sensible du Brésil vis-à-vis de la zone OCDE en matière d?enseignement supérieur. |
| Keywords: | human capital, productivity, productivité, capital humain, innovation, innovation |
| JEL: | H25 I23 O30 |
| Date: | 2006–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:532-en&r=ino |
| By: | Rachel Ngai; Roberto M. Samaniego |
| Abstract: | We develop a multi-sector general equilibrium model in which productivity growth is drivenby the production of sector-specific knowledge. In the model, we find that long rundifferences in total factor productivity growth across sectors are independent of theparameters of the knowledge production function except for one, which we term the fertilityof knowledge. Differences in R&D intensity are also independent of most other parameters.The fertility of knowledge in the capital sector is central to the growth properties of the modeleconomy. |
| Keywords: | Endogenous technical change, multisector growth, fertility of knowledge, totalfactor productivity, R&D intensity, investment-specific technical change |
| JEL: | D24 D92 O31 O41 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0762&r=ino |
| By: | Harhoff, Dietmar; Wagner, Stefan |
| Abstract: | We analyze the duration of the patent examination process at the European Patent Office (EPO). Our data contain information related to the patents economic and technical relevance, EPO capacity and workload as well as novel citation measures which are derived from the EPOs search reports. In our multivariate analysis we estimate competing risk specifications in order to characterize differences in the processes leading to a withdrawal of the application by the applicant, a refusal of the patent grant by the examiner or an actual patent grant. Highly cited applications are approved faster by the EPO than less important ones, but they are also withdrawn less quickly by the applicant. The process duration increases for all outcomes with the applications complexity, originality, number of references (backward citations) in the search report and with the EPOs workload at the filing date. Endogenous applicant behavior becomes apparent in other results: more controversial claims lead to slower grants, but faster withdrawals, while relatively well-documented applications (identified by a high share of applicant references appearing in the search report) are approved faster and take longer to be withdrawn. |
| Keywords: | patents; patent examination; survival analysis; patent citations; European Patent Office |
| JEL: | C15 C41 D73 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:1256&r=ino |
| By: | Hoisl, Karin |
| Abstract: | Although labor mobility has been recognized as a key mechanism to transfer tacit knowledge, prior research on inventors has so far neglected to address the question of the consequence of a move on inventive performance. This paper improves on the current R&D literature by presenting a quasi-experimental approach to explore the effect of a specific move of an inventor on his performance. The quasi-experiment provides a favorable setting to test this relationship since it allows interpreting changes of inventive performance causal to a particular move. Results reveal that in the post-move period inventors produce more patentable innovations that are characterized by a higher grant rate and by higher value. However, the gains from movement seem to dissipate over time. Data for the analysis was derived from a survey of German inventors (N = 3,049). |
| Keywords: | Inventor; Productivity; Mobility; Quasi Experiment; Patent |
| JEL: | O34 O32 J M54 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:1263&r=ino |
| By: | Helga De Doncker (National Bank of Belgium, Microeconomic Information Department) |
| Abstract: | The Belgian pharmaceutical sector has been accorded a leading role in the attainment of the R&D investment targets which the EU Member States set themselves as part of the Lisbon strategy. To gain a better insight into that sector’s research activities, the NBB conducted an ad hoc survey in 2005, covering pharmaceutical companies active in Belgium in the field of research, production and distribution of drugs for human use. The analysis of the information obtained from that survey makes up the main body of this working paper. The survey results do not only confirm the importance of the research activities conducted by Belgian establishments, but also indicate the frequent cooperation with other research centres and the crucial importance of expertise as a factor influencing the location of such activities in Belgium. The breakdown of the survey results by kind of establishment on the basis of the type of activities conducted in Belgium reveals further clear differences of emphasis in the nature of the R&D activities pursued in Belgium and divergences in the scale of the resources used. The paper also comprises a number of annexes giving additional information on the sector. More particularly, they deal with added value and employment, the indirect effects and profitability of the pharmaceutical companies, and background information on reference reimbursement of drugs. |
| Keywords: | pharmaceutical industry, R&D, reference reimbursement |
| JEL: | I18 L65 O3 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:docwpp:200612-1&r=ino |
| By: | Wagner, Stefan |
| Abstract: | There has been a wide-spread misconception based on the imprecise wording of Art. 52 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) that the protection of business methods by patents is prohibited in Europe. This paper investigates the legal framework set by patent laws with respect to the patentability of business methods, contrasting the situation in lege in Europe and the situation in the US. It is shown that in praxi business methods have never been excluded from patentability in Europe. In the empirical part of the paper, 1,901 European patent applications relating to business methods are identified and major patent indicators are computed. Further, a case study from the franking device industry which is characterized by strong competition for intellectual property rights is conducted. It contains evidence for the strategic use of business method patents leading to opposition rates against granted patents of 44%. |
| Keywords: | business method patents; European Patent Office |
| JEL: | L39 O34 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:1265&r=ino |
| By: | Tobias Kretschmer; Katrin Muehlfeld |
| Abstract: | Firms faced with the decision of whether to standardize or not prior to introducing a newnetwork technology face a tradeoff: Compatibility improves the technology's chances ofconsumer acceptance, but it also means having to share the resulting profits with othersponsors of the standard. In this paper, we show that even prior to market introduction of anew technology, the timing of decisions is important and that firms have to weigh up thecooperative and competitive elements of pre-market choices. We also show that the option toprecommit to a technology before it is fully developed (as has been the case with theCompact Disc) can be profitable for network technologies. |
| Keywords: | Standardization, compact disc, preemption, war-of- attrition |
| JEL: | L63 O32 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0742&r=ino |
| By: | Mirko Draca; Raffaella Sadun; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | We survey the micro and macro literature on the impact of Information and CommunicationTechnologies (ICTs) on productivity. The "Solow Paradox" of the absence of an impact ofICT on productivity no longer holds, if it ever did. Both growth accounting and econometricevidence suggest an important role for ICTs in accounting for productivity. In fact, theempirical estimates suggest a much larger impact of ICT on productivity than would beexpected from the standard neoclassical model that we focus on. We discuss the variousexplanations for these results, including the popular notion of complementary organizationalcapital. Finally, we offer suggestions for where the literature needs to go. |
| Keywords: | ICT, productivity, organisation |
| JEL: | E22 E23 F1 O11 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0749&r=ino |
| By: | Hoisl, Karin |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the causality between inventor productivity and inventor mobility. The results show that the level of education has no influence on inventor productivity. Making use of external sources of knowledge, on the contrary, has a significant effect on productivity. Finally, firm size has a positive impact on productivity. Firm size also influences inventor mobility, although negatively. Whereas existing research implicitly assumes causality to point in one direction, this study ex-ante allows for a simultaneous relationship. To deal with the expected endogeneity problem, instrumental variables techniques will be employed. Results show that mobile inventors are more than four times as productive as non-movers. Whereas mobility increases productivity, an increase in productivity decreases the number of moves. |
| Keywords: | Inventor; Productivity; Mobility; Match Quality; Patent |
| JEL: | O34 O32 J M54 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:1260&r=ino |
| By: | Evangelia Vourvachaki |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) ongrowth in an economy, consisting of three sectors, ICT-producing, ICT-using and non-ICT-using.The benefits from ICT come from the falling prices of the ICT-using sector's good,which is used for the production of intermediate goods. Their falling prices provideincentives for investment for sectors using them, so the non-ICT using sector experiencessustained growth driven by capital accumulation. Rates of growth across the three sectorsdiffer, but the aggregate economy is on a balanced growth path with constant labour sharesacross sectors. US evidence confirms the model's predictions. |
| Keywords: | multi-sector economy, endogenous growth, balanced growth path, Informationand Communication Technologies |
| JEL: | O40 O41 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0750&r=ino |
| By: | Michele Boldrin; David K. Levine |
| Abstract: | Intellectual property (IP) protection involves a trade-off between the undesirability of monopoly and the desirable encouragement of creation and innovation. Optimal policy depends on the quantitative strength of these two forces. We give a quantitative assessment of current IP policies. We focus particularly on the scale of the market, showing that as it increases, due either to growth or to the expansion of trade, IP protection should be reduced. |
| JEL: | A0 A1 A10 D0 D00 D02 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12769&r=ino |
| By: | Harhoff, Dietmar; Hoisl, Karin |
| Abstract: | Germany is one of few countries in which the monetary compensation for inventors is not only determined by negotiations between employer and employee-inventor, but also by relatively precise legal provisions. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of the German Employees Inventions Act (GEIA) and discuss which incentives it creates. We rely on responses from a recent survey of 3,350 German inventors to test hypotheses regarding this institution. We conclude from our data that the law creates substantial monetary rewards for productive inventors. The qualitative responses from our survey confirm this view, but also point to a number of dysfunctional effects. |
| Keywords: | Employee-Inventor; Inventor Compensation; Patent Value; Productivity |
| JEL: | O34 O32 J M54 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:1262&r=ino |
| By: | Schulz, Celine |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first large scale study that examines the impact of both individual- and group-specific factors on the benefits users obtain from their user communities. By empirically analysing 924 survey responses from individuals in 161 Computer Associates' user groups, this paper aims to identify the determinants of successful user communities. To measure success, the amount of time individual members save through having access to their user networks is used. As firms can significantly profit from successful user communities, this study proposes four key implications of the empirical results for the management of user communities. |
| Keywords: | Managing User Communities; Collective Action; Information Sharing |
| JEL: | O32 M10 |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:1257&r=ino |
| By: | Wagner, Stefan |
| Abstract: | Among the most prominent theoretical frameworks dealing with the economic underlyings of firms make-or-buy decisions are Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and the Resourced Based View (RBV). Relying on panel data covering 107 European firms over eight years I test predictions from both TCE and RBV with regard to the outsourcing of patent related services simultaneously. Modelling the share of outsourced patent applications in a Negative Binomial Panel Regression Model I find joint explanatory power of both approaches. My findings support previous literature arguing for an integration of TCE and RBV to a comprehensive theoretical framework of firms make-or-buy decisions. |
| Keywords: | outsourcing; patent attorney; make-or-buy; negative binomial panel regression |
| JEL: | L24 L22 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:1264&r=ino |