The estimation of limited dependent variable panel data models usually involves objective functions in which integrals appear without a closed form solution: this is the case of the panel data Tobit model with random effects. Recently, simulation methods have shown to be useful in the inference...

This paper aims at characterizing the dynamics of R&D competition within the pharmaceutical domain, focusing on the role of patent disclosure, the extent of uncertainty, and role of scientific advances. Following the empirical literature in the economics of innovation, we employ patents as a...

During the last thirty years health care expenditure (HCE) has been growing much more rapidly than GDP in all OECD countries posing increasing concern on the long-term sustainability of current trends. Against this background, we look at the determinants of HCE in European countries, explicitly...

This paper aims at characterizing the dynamics of R&D competition within the pharmaceutical domain, focusing on the role of patent disclosure, the extent of uncertainty, and role of scientific advances. Following the empirical literature in the economics of innovation, we employ patents as a...

During the last thirty years health care expenditure (HCE) has been growing much more rapidly than GDP in all OECD countries posing increasing concern on the long-term sustainability of current trends. Against this background, we look at the determinants of HCE in European countries, explicitly...

We analyze the decline of R&D productivity in pharmaceuticals and its determinants. Since the molecular biology revolution, science has dramatically expanded the set of plausible therapeutic targets. However, innovation has become more difficult to achieve, and attrition rates of R&D projects...

This paper aims at examining whether an increased stringency of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) protection is apt to stimulate international cooperation on research projects between developed and emerging countries. To address this issue, we look both at scientific and technological...