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on Intellectual Property Rights |
| By: | Chahreddine Abbes; Amélie Lafrance-Cooke; Nicholas Johnston |
| Abstract: | By focusing on exits, their characteristics, patenting behaviour and the possible reasons behind exits, the paper provides a first attempt to answer the following question: What is the role of patents in firms’ exit strategies? While most exits can be the direct result of small and medium-sized enterprises’ failure to compete in a private market for various reasons, when exits involve intellectual property (IP), the situation may require thorough analysis because IP may play a double role. It can be a valuable asset to attract investors, and secure financing, therefore improving firms’ odds of survival and delaying exit (patent survival effect). On the other hand, IP can also be a very attractive asset for incumbents to acquire, accelerating exit from the market through mergers and acquisitions (patent trigger effect). Using data from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Patent Research Database and National Accounts Longitudinal Microdata File, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the role played by patents in the context of exits. The paper finds that firms that patent are more likely to be larger, to perform research and development, export their products, and be alive seven years after entry relative to businesses that do not patent. Furthermore, while the patent survival effect is estimated at a statistically significant 4.5%, the trigger effect was positive but not significant when regressing a fully specified model. |
| Keywords: | property, firms, patents |
| JEL: | J23 M21 |
| Date: | 2025–06–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp8e:202500600005e |
| By: | Eppinger, Peter; Kukharskyy, Bohdan; Naghavi, Alireza; Ottaviano, Gianmarco |
| Abstract: | We examine how firms strategically slice up global production processes to protect proprietary knowhow. By sourcing fewer inputs from each supplier, firms avoid the concentration of information in the hands of individual suppliers and thereby reduce the risk of imitation. Using rich micro data on firm-to-firm trade in automotive components, we uncover a robust U-shaped relationship between the number of components sourced per supplier (concentration) and the strength of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection. This U-shape can be rationalized by a combination of a protective effect and a compositional effect of IPR institutions. In countries with weak IPR protection, firms source only low-tech components, for which imitation is irrelevant, so concentration is optimal. At intermediate IPR levels, they buy more high-tech, imitation-prone components and therefore ‘slice to protect’. Under strong IPR regimes, imitation risk is minimal and concentration is highest. Empirically, weak IPR institutions strongly predict slicing of high-tech components. |
| Keywords: | Intellectual property rights; Global value chains; Production; Technology; Imitation; Automotive industry; Fragmentation |
| JEL: | F12 F14 F21 F23 L23 L24 L25 O32 O34 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21535 |
| By: | Döttling, Robin; Emery, Logan P.; Zhao, Shuo |
| Abstract: | Generative AI has the potential to transform corporate innovation, but intellectual property (IP) created without sufficient human input is ineligible for protection by IP systems. We model a firm's choice of AI versus human-capital use when investing in innovation, with IP protection granted based on a noisy signal of human-capital use. We derive the IP policy's effect on incentives and characterize when the IP system can "kill" AI use. Alternatively, low AI costs can "kill" the IP system or shift its role to providing a human-capital subsidy, depending on signal noise and the social value of human-capital use in innovation. When consumers value human-created works, human-capital use is distorted by an adverse selection discount. The IP policy can mitigate this by deterring high-cost firms' investment, or by acting as a credible signal of incentives for human-capital use that triggers a positive feedback loop through consumer beliefs. |
| Keywords: | Generative AI; Innovation; Copyright; Intellectual property protection; Adverse selection |
| JEL: | G31 G38 O31 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21399 |
| By: | Fort, Teresa; Goldschlag, Nathan; Liang, Jack; Schott, Peter; Zolas, Nikolas |
| Abstract: | Relatively flat US productivity growth versus rising R&D expenditures is often interpreted as evidence that ideas are getting harder to find. We build a new 45-year panel tracking the universe of US firms' patenting to investigate the micro underpinnings of this conclusion, separately examining the relationships between research inputs and ideas (patents) versus ideas and growth. We find that average patents per R&D input are increasing, the elasticity of patents to R\&D inputs is flat or rising, and there is not systematic evidence of a secular decline in patenting after controlling for research inputs. We then document a positive, significant, and fairly steady relationship between firms' patent and labor productivity growth rates. Average firm growth after controlling for patent growth, however, declines. Together, these results suggest that firms' innovative efforts play a key role in sustaining growth that has not diminished over the last four decades. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; Productivity; Patents |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O33 O47 D24 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21555 |
| By: | Castelnovo, Paolo; Lombardo, Cinzia; Morretta, Valentina |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a public policy intervention introduced by the Italian government to support the economic valorization of patents held by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using original survey data collected in 2025, the analysis compares firms that benefited from the measure during the 2020-2021 calls with a control group of comparable non beneficiary firms. The study examines patenting behavior, strategies for patent valorization, perceived obstacles, and innovation-related outcomes beyond traditional financial indicators. The results show that the measure effectively increases patenting activity and supports technological maturation, particularly for smaller, younger, and more resource-constrained firms, without crowding out private investment. Rather than directly boosting short-term financial performance, the measure acts as an enabling instrument by strengthening internal capabilities, know-how, and innovation processes, helping firms bridge the gap between invention and market readiness. While impacts on internationalization and market-based patent valorization remain limited, the intervention represents an effective component of a broader SME-oriented innovation policy mix. |
| Keywords: | Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2026–06–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemwp:404198 |
| By: | Bardhi, Arjada; Callander, Steven |
| Abstract: | We develop a model of directed Bayesian search over a multi-dimensional landscape of available ideas, consisting of two fields of knowledge as well as their combinations. Success of ideas is represented by the sample paths of a Brownian staple, an extension of the Brownian motion framework of Callander (2011) to higher dimensions. We characterize prediction and optimal search by a sequence of short-lived researchers. Prediction is complex: predicting the outcome of any novel idea generically requires considering the entire set of previously explored ideas. Derivative research plays a pivotal role in mitigating such complexity. We demonstrate that optimal frontier search is gradual, advancing at most one field at a time by combining a familiar idea from one field with a novel idea from another. These search dynamics align with observed patterns in patent innovation, drug discovery, and scientific citations. |
| JEL: | D81 D83 C61 O31 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21350 |
| By: | Lydiane Nabec (RITM - Réseaux Innovation Territoires et Mondialisation - Université Paris-Saclay, UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Stephan Marette (UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Eva Delacroix (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This article aims to understand the conditions under which FOP Eco-Score labeling of food products could help consumers to choose greener food products, according to the favourability of the score, its consistency with the nutritional score, and the brand of the product. |
| Keywords: | Labeling, Consumer, willingness-To-Pay, Eco-Label, Eco-Label willingness-To-Pay Consumer Labeling |
| Date: | 2026–02–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05650081 |
| By: | Jaremski, Matthew (Department of Economics and Finance, Huntsman School of Business, Utah State University & NBER); Mitchener, Kris James (Department of Economics, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, NBER, CEPR, CESifo & CAGE); Rieder, Kilian (Economics and Research Department, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Eurosystem) & CEPR. Otto-Wagner Platz 3, 1090 Vienna, Austria) |
| Abstract: | Firms often rebrand to counter negative shocks, but can it work? Using a historical natural experiment, we analyse a large sample of companies from the same industry (banking) that shared very similar names, but overwhelmingly decided to change them in response to a common, negative news shock. U.S. entry into World War I in 1917 created a sudden anti-German backlash against anything that invoked an association with the now enemy. The shock itself was thus orthogonal to bank fundamentals and pre-existing trends, but pushed banks to reconsider their brands. After 1917, the few German-named banks that kept their tainted names saw significant declines in assets, deposits, and market share relative to other banks. However, German-named banks that rebranded mitigated much of the negative shock. Specifically, German-named banks that adopted a new non-ethnic brand name avoided between 75% and 85% of the anti-German effect, and those that adopted a new patriotic brand name were able to neutralize it completely. Overall, we find that "crisis rebranding" paid off in our historical setting regardless of the chosen brand, with patriotic rebranding proving the most effective at offsetting the exogenous shock. |
| Keywords: | Corporate brands, brand management, brand equity, news shocks, reputation, World War I, commercial banks, patriotism JEL Classification: D22, G21, L25, M31, N12 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:812 |