This paper analyses the role of patent-filing fees requested by the member states of the European Patent Convention (EPC). We provide first empirical evidence showing that the fee elasticity of the demand for priority applications is negative and significant. Given the strong variation in...

There is wide agreement that the high social rate of return to research and innovation justifies government support for research. There is, however, only limited evidence on the effectiveness of different public research programmes. Reliable measurement of programme effectiveness is hampered by...