We develop an overlapping generations model, where firms (as consumers) have a two-period life, investing in R&D during the first period and competing in the product market in the second period. The number of firms is endogenously determined and the set of successful firms by a Bernoullian...

This work provides a macroeconomic approach and a sound conceptual foundation for the notion of competitiveness gains, so prone to multiple interpretations, and to make it fit for empirical analyses. Instead of competitiveness is competitiveness gains the relevant concept, defined as a situation...

The role of patents is threefold: first, they are important to state the property rights of an invention; second, they are necessary to secure financing for starting a new venture; third, they are fundamental to recoup R&D investments. The main difficulty in preventing unauthorized use of an...