Research and Development (R&D) and innovation are crucial features of the seed industry. To supportlarge R&D investments by the private sector, strong intellectual property rights, such as patents, arenecessary. The exclusivity granted by patents naturally creates market power positions and...

Compulsory licensing allows firms in developing countries to produce foreign-owned inventions withoutthe consent of foreign patent owners. This paper uses an exogenous event of compulsory licensingafter World War I under the Trading with the Enemy Act to examine the long run effects of...

[...]This paper analyzes the current state of the educationsystem in the United States. In the course of the paper, Iwill try to point out where controversy exists, particularlyin academic discussions.[...]

Recent surveys report that firms claim they do not rely heavily on patents in order toappropriate a return on their innovation. Yet, firms do patent, as indicated by the largenumber of patents that are granted. This paper offers a possible resolution to this puzzle.It takes a simplified version...

Using a unique longitudinal data set on all manufacturing firms in Slovenia from 1994-2001, this study analyzes how firm efficiency changed in response to changing competitive pressures associated with the transition to market. Results show that the period was one of atypically rapid growth of...

In the UK, SSAP 13 requires that firms immediately expense most of their R&D expenditures.The reported earnings of high-R&D expenditure firms are therefore likely to convey less valuerelevantinformation to investors than those of less research-intensive firms. Using a sample offirms from the...

Using a panel data set of 361 German corporations for the period 1991 to 1996 we test the hypothesis that firms with more efficient governance structures have higher profitability. To determine efficiency we compare firms with respect to ownership concentration, the identity of owners, capital...

Banks continue to dier in many ways, for instance with respect to business models,growth strategies, or nancial health. Neglecting these dierences confuses ine-ciency with heterogeneity while sub-sample estimation prohibits eciency comparisonsacross dierent samples. We use a latent class...

Information management is a core process in banking, in particular when lending to small, opaquefirms. But while a more intensive use of information technology (IT) can enhance informationmanagement, it is also costly. Merely increasing IT expenditure may thus not be a panacea tooptimize...

This paper reviews the literature on the economics of intellectual property rights (IPR), with a particular focus on the main industrial property rights of patents and trade marks. Intellectual property rights arise from the legal protection accorded to certain inventions or creations. We begin...