This book contributes fresh theoretical and empirical evidence on competitiveness and growth in connection with the commitment made by European leaders at the Lisbon Summit in 2000 to ‘render the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy in the world by 2010,...

In this paper, we address the problem of patent valuation. With this aim in view, we focus on the feasibility of a patent rating system. This leads us to develop a structural model of patent renewal decisions based on real options that links patent renewals and patent value and to estimate it on...

This paper examines how patent renewal fees may be restructured to discourage low-value patents with the goal of reducing the burden on patent offices without unduly impairing innovation incentives. We depart from Pakes’ (1986, Econometrica, <Emphasis Type="Bold">54, 755–784) real-option model by moving to an...</emphasis>

Uncertainty on effective stocks or damages is the core of most irreversible economic decisions involving natural resources and the environment and, more generally, of most investment decisions. The discussion on the relevance of the precautionary principle is illustrative of this role. Although...