This paper explores the possible job creation effect of innovation activity. We analyze a unique panel dataset covering almost 20,000 patenting firms from Europe over the period 2003-2012. The main outcome from the proposed GMM-SYS estimations is the labour-friendly nature of innovation, which...

This paper presents evidence that firms face a trade-off between the quantity and quality of their research output. The econometric analysis uses survey data on patent applicants at the European Patent Office and addresses the identification problem caused by differences in firms' propensity to...

We investigate how patent classification influences the interpretation of patent statistics. Innovation researchers currently make use of various patent classification schemas, which are hard to replicate. Using machine learning techniques, we construct a transparent, replicable and adaptable...

This paper provides novel empirical evidence that patents enable knowledge disclosure. The analysis exploits the Invention Secrecy Act, which grants the U.S. Commissioner for Patents the right to prevent disclosure of new inventions that represent a threat to national security. Using a two-level...

The real options investment theory shows that greater uncertainty about market revenues reduces current Ramp;D investment by increasing the value of waiting. This paper presents empirical evidence that patent protection mitigates the effect market uncertainty on Ramp;D investment

3D printing is a technology that has the potential to revolutionise manufacturing as we know it. While 3D printing is becoming mainstream, few consumers of printing services have the capacity to undertake their own printing. Around the technology, a service industry is burgeoning, as consumers...

Novelty is a basic requirement of patent law. An inventor cannot obtain a patent if the invention exists in the “prior art,” a term that generally refers to knowledge and technology already in the public domain. Interestingly, an earlier-filed patent document qualifies as prior art as of its...

The patent system is usually described in terms of opposites, like producers versus trolls or software versus pharma. But the reality is a far more complex set of layers, including enforcers, patentees, and technology. This study of twenty-five years of patent litigation by highly litigious...

Courts often state that patents are justified by disclosure theory, the idea that patents are awarded as quid pro quo for the public disclosure of inventions. But many commentators have argued that disclosure theory should be accorded no weight in the design of the patent system because patented...

Patent thickets, a phenomenon of fragmented ownership of overlapping patent rights, hamper firms' commercialization of patents and thus deliver asset pricing implications. We show that firms with deeper patent thickets are involved in more patent litigations, launch fewer new products, and...