While the potential for intellectual property rights to inhibit the diffusion of scientific knowledge is at the heart of several contemporary policy debates, evidence for the "anti-commons effect" has been anecdotal. A central issue in this debate is how intellectual property rights over a given...

We analyze longitudinal data on academic careers and conduct interviews with faculty members to determine the scope and causes of the gender gap in patenting among life scientists over a 30-year period show that women faculty members patent at about 40 percent of the rate of men. We find that...

While the potential for intellectual property rights to inhibit the diffusion of scientific knowledge is at the heart of several contemporary policy debates, evidence for the %u201Canti-commons effect%u201D has been anecdotal. A central issue in this debate is how intellectual property rights...