This paper proposes a search strategy for photovoltaic patents which allows to distinguish the photovoltaic system into sub-trajectories. Identifying and analyzing sub-trajectories is of particular importance for understanding micro patterns of technological change. The proposed search strategy...

This paper analyzes the consequences of radical patent-regime change by exploiting a natural experiment: the forced adoption of the Prussian patent system in territories annexed after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Compared to other German states, Prussia granted patents more restrictively by...

We present a selective survey of the economic theory of intellectual property rights. After a brief description of the institutional framework, we discuss policy objectives and some basic welfare tradeoffs in intellectual property design. We consider the extent to which social objectives can be...