This paper studies a simple model of experimentation and innovation. Our analysis suggests that patents may improve the allocation of resources by encouraging rapid experimentation and efficient ex post transfer of knowledge across firms. Each firm receives a private signal on the success...

This paper develops a three-stage model of innovation, fixed-fee licensing and production to evaluate the welfare effects of compulsory licensing, taking into account both static (information sharing) and dynamic (innovation incentive) effects. Compulsory licensing is shown to have an...

This paper analyzes innovation races in a moral hazard setting. I develop a model where two competing entrepreneurs, financed by a single venture capitalist, work independently on the same project. The venture capitalist cannot observe the allocation of funds she provides, which creates a moral...

In an effort to understand the benefits of innovation on companies' growth and value, it becomes apparent that there is considerable tension between the benefit of R&D investment to society and the cost in financial terms to companies with regards to R&D spending as well as the acquisition of...

We analyze recent contributions to growth theory based on the model of expanding variety of Romer [Romer, P. (1990). “Endogenous technological change”. Journal of Political Economy 98, 71–102]. In the first part, we present different versions of the benchmark linear model with imperfect...

The foreign direct investments (FDI) spillovers are probably the most extensively analyzed channel of knowledge spillovers (the most important channel for the transfer of knowledge and technology to firms of the host country). Scholars as well as policy makers increasingly treat FDI spillovers...

Managers entrusted with new product development (NPD) have to seek the optimal balance between prior competencies and learning activities to generate successful products. Yet prior NPD research has largely taken a positivistic view of learning despite an inkling that too much learning can lead...

This paper provides insights into the behavior of academic patentees who choose to bypass in-house Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). TTOs have gained favor in recent years as academic institutions have tried to increase commercialization of their inventions. Using a large sample of researchers...

We examine the incentives for experimentation in the context of innovation and market competition. A monopolist chooses whether to sell early-stage product or perform costly scale-up R&D. Early market participation facilitates learning about demand but invites knowledge spillovers and...

In this paper, we study the determinants of patent quality and volume of patent applications when inventors care about perceived patent quality. We analyze the effects of various policy reforms, specifically, a proposal to establish a two-tiered patent system. In the two-tiered system,...