This paper uses a unique database from a leading microfinance rating agency to assess the impact of management on the functioning of microfinance institutions (MFIs). It focuses on MFIs’ financial performance, and on the level of subsidies received. The results show that the management skills...

This paper presents estimates of the long-term impact of various sources of knowledge (R&D performed by the business sector, the public sector and foreign firms) on multifactor productivity growth of 16 countries from 1980 to 1998. The main results show that the three sources of knowledge are...

This paper presents a new multivariate test for the detection of unit roots. Use is made of the possible correlations between the disturbances of different series, and constrained and unconstrained SURE estimators are employed. The corresponding asymptotic distributions are obtained and a table...

The sharp increase in academic patenting over the past 20 years raises important issues regarding the generation and diffusion of academic knowledge. Three key questions may be raised in this respect: What is behind the surge in academic patenting? Does patenting affect the quality and quantity...

We examine the contemporary art market of the 100 best artists as classified by the Kunstkompass 2006 in the German magazine Capital in comparison with price achieved by artworks from the same artists sold through auction sales. Using the hedonic regression method, we test whether and in which...

The length of patent rights is an issue of considerable importance in the design of patent systems, and its optimality has been intensively discussed in the literature. This dimension – taking the form of the number of years during which a given patent has been maintained – has been...

The joint increase in the number and size of patents filed around the world puts patent systems under pressure.This paper addresses issues in measuring the voluminosity of patent applications and highlights patterns in its evolution. The results – based on a 2 million EPO applications database...

Specific innovation capabilities enable large firms to depart from constant returns to scale and benefit from significant economies of scale. These capabilities improve the quality of the labor force organization and therefore positively impact labor productivity.

This paper investigates whether patent fee policies are a potential factor underlying the boom in patent applications observed in major patent offices. We provide the first panel-based evidence suggesting that fees affect the demand for patents in three major patent offices (EPO, USPTO and JPO),...