Patents are probabilistic rights. We set up a multi-stage model in which choosing between patent and trade secrecy is affected by three parameters: the patent strength defined as the probability that the right is upheld by the court, the cost of imitating a patented innovation relative to the...

This paper offers some empirical evidence on how do product and process innovations affect manufacturing sales and exports. Accounting for differences in technological opportunities between industries, and the "market pull" or "technology push" nature of firms' innovations, we explain the share...

This paper is a survey of some recent theoretical models related to the endogeneous determination of market structure in differentiated products industries. Usually, market structure is explained mainly by supply side characteristics such as economies of scale, economies of scope and sunk costs....

This paper is an attempt to give a precise content to the notion of potential competition in a natural monopoly market. Competition is described as a two stage game in which a set of firms announce first a price, then a level of output. Contingent demands for each firm are obtained from a...

In this paper we consider the problem of compatibility between networks when the consumers of a network service value the capacity of the network itself rather than the number of users. Compatibility decisions are modelled as the outcome of a three stages game where strategies include...