Strategy scholars have documented in various empirical settings that firms seek and leverage stronger institutions to mitigate hazards and gain competitive advantage. In this paper, we argue that such “institution-seeking” behavior may not be confined to the pursuit of strong institutions:...

From the standpoint of policies, the different branches of economics may be aggregated into two categories: dirigiste and laissez fairist. Dirigiste theories in economics have been based primarily on the complexity of commodities: this allows commodities to be ranked according to the...

The present paper assesses the interactions between innovation and economic institutions within the context of the inequality-growth nexus. By carrying out fixed effects estimations on a cross-country panel, we find that both institutional quality and innovations improve economic growth at the...

We consider the role of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in a Schumpeterian growth model in which patent holders face the threats of profit loss due to imitation and complete replacement due to successful outside innovation. In this setting stronger IPR enforcement has both imitation and...

Using a survey with randomized elements and truth-telling incentives, we document scientists’ beliefs about current and future disruptions to their research and how these beliefs depend on the eventual length of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, scientists with more favorable ratings of their...

The current stage of globalization involves geographically dispersed research and development (R&D) investments that are not confined to advanced economies. These cross-border R&D investments are driven by multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’) strategies for exploring and/or exploiting foreign...

I construct a new proxy for Tobin's q that incorporates the replacement cost of patent capital. This proxy, PI (physical plus intangible) q, explains up to 62% more variation in investment than other proxies for q. Furthermore, investment is more sensitive to PI q than to other proxies for q....

We investigate how intangible capital in form of intellectual property, such as patents, might mitigate financing constraints. While scholars have already argued that patents might have a signalling value reducing information asymmetries between borrowers and lenders, we quantify the value of...

In this paper, I examine whether longer duration of executive compensation influences investment decisions. I exploit a regulation designed to foster long-term orientation in executive compensation as an exogenous trigger to lengthen executives' incentive duration. I find that treated firms...

Litigated pharmaceutical patents are a valuable source of data on how much inventiveness is required for a patent grant and what are the costs of patents. Although innovation is central to economic growth and the competitiveness of firms, there are few data about either the cost of granted...