Germany is one of few countries in which the monetary compensation for inventors is not only dete... more Germany is one of few countries in which the monetary compensation for inventors is not only determined by negotiations between employer and employee-inventor, but also by relatively precise legal provisions. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of the German Employees' Inventions Act (GEIA) and discuss which incentives it creates. We rely on responses from a recent survey of 3,350 German inventors to test hypotheses regarding this institution. We conclude from our data that the law creates substantial monetary rewards for productive inventors. The qualitative responses from our survey confirm this view, but also point to a number of dysfunctional effects.
We analyze the duration and outcomes of patent examination at the European Patent Office utilizin... more We analyze the duration and outcomes of patent examination at the European Patent Office utilizing an unusually rich data set covering a random sample of 215,265 applications filed between 1982 and 1998. In our empirical analysis, we distinguish between three groups of determinants: applicant characteristics, indicators of patent quality and value, and determinants that affect the complexity of the examination task. The results from an accelerated failure time model indicate that more controversial claims lead to slower grants but faster withdrawals, whereas well-documented applications are approved faster and withdrawn more slowly. We find strong evidence that applicants accelerate grant proceedings for their most valuable patents, but that they also prolong the battle for such patents if a withdrawal or refusal is imminent. This paper develops implications of these results for managerial decision making in research and development and innovation management.
This article assesses the impact in the US of adopting a patent post-grant review (PGR) procedure... more This article assesses the impact in the US of adopting a patent post-grant review (PGR) procedure similar to one provided in the America Invents Act (AIA) of 2011. We employ novel methods for matching US patents to their European counterparts to find that opposition rates are about three times higher among European Patent Office (EPO) equivalents of US litigated patents as against control-group (unlitigated) patents. Contingent on reaching a final judgment in EPO post-grant opposition, we find that about 70% of these equivalents have challenged claims that are either completely revoked or amended. Using our empirical findings to inform a series of welfare estimates, we calculate benefit-to-cost ratios that the US may expect from implementing PGR in the range of 4:1-10:1. We also discover that these large social benefits result primarily from eliminating unwarranted market power in the current stock of granted patents, and much less so from litigation cost savings per se. Our results provide evidence that the US may benefit substantially from adopting the AIA post-grant review, but only provided that costs are controlled and that administration and appeals are not allowed to become too costly.
By using survey data on a large sample of European patents, we estimate the determinants of a com... more By using survey data on a large sample of European patents, we estimate the determinants of a composite indicator of patent value that summarizes information from many indirect indicators commonly employed by the literature. The elasticity of man-months on the value of one patent is small, 4%, while that on the number of patents in the portfolio of technically connected patents is higher, about 20%. This is in line with Rosenberg's view of the innovation process: firms can better control the number of innovations than their economic value, which depends on many factors (demand or complementary inventions) outside their control. The paper also finds that more experienced inventors, with more past citations, exploit incremental trajectories, as implied by the fact that they produce very efficiently many innovations of lower value. In addition, we find that education (PhD) replaces many years of age-related experience, and that portfolios of higher values are more likely to come from PhDs (or older inventors) who have not yet produced major inventions.
Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics JITE, 2004
Before entering into the discussion of the paper, let me point out that if you continue reading t... more Before entering into the discussion of the paper, let me point out that if you continue reading this comment, you have agreed to (i) never criticize the author of these lines in any review, paper, or conversation, nor sue him in any court, and (ii) never communicate or make use of any facts contained in this presentation (no matter where I got them from or whether they are facts at all). You are excluded from reading this and the next pages if you do not consent to these two restrictions. If the readers of these lines feel annoyed by these restrictions, then they care about the issues raised in Margaret Jane Radin's paper. At the same time, even some of the readers who would not want to see the aforementioned rights signed away may confess that by clicking at the appropriate place in some software setup menu they have in the past agreed to stipulations and conditions similar to those above. Shrink-wrap, click-wrap, and browse-wrap contracts are increasingly used in the digital environment. Margaret Jane Radin's paper focuses on these modern forms of contract, on their relationship to our notion of property and on the role of technology in either circumventing or enforcing the effects that such contract provisions might have.
Using a sample of approximately 11000 West German ¢rms from all major sectors of the economy, we ... more Using a sample of approximately 11000 West German ¢rms from all major sectors of the economy, we test predictions on the relationship between legal form, ¢rm survival and employment growth. In our tests, we distinguish between voluntary liquidation without losses to creditors and bankruptcy, that is forced liquidation. We demonstrate that in all sectors ¢rms under limited liability have higher growth and higher insolvency rates than comparable ¢rms under full liability. Firms whose owners are approaching retirement age are characterised by relatively high hazards of voluntary liquidation, while the propensity to declare insolvency is not a¡ected by the owner's age. i. introduction The determinants of the survival and growth of ¢rms and of labour demand, have recently come to the renewed attention of researchers and policy-makers alike. At the policy level, the reasons for this are rather
R&D Spillovers, Technological Proximity, And Productivity Growth Evidence From Germ... more R&D Spillovers, Technological Proximity, And Productivity Growth Evidence From German Panel Data. Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics. Author Info. Dietmar Harhoff Additional ...
This Discussion Paper is issued under the auspices of the Centre's research programme in INDUSTRI... more This Discussion Paper is issued under the auspices of the Centre's research programme in INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Research disseminated by CEPR may include views on policy, but the Centre itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Centre for Economic Policy Research was established in 1983 as an educational charity, to promote independent analysis and public discussion of open economies and the relations among them. It is pluralist and nonpartisan, bringing economic research to bear on the analysis of medium-and long-run policy questions. These Discussion Papers often represent preliminary or incomplete work, circulated to encourage discussion and comment. Citation and use of such a paper should take account of its provisional character.
This paper estimates the determinants of the private economic value of patents from a novel and u... more This paper estimates the determinants of the private economic value of patents from a novel and unusually comprehensive dataset built from a questionnaire survey of European EPO patents. We find that the resource investments made in the research leading to the patent are an important determinant of the value of patents. We also find that the characteristics of the individual inventor (his past patents, motivation) are a more important determinant of the private value of patents than the characteristics of the organization in which he is employed (e.g. its past patents), or the location in which the invention is carried out. Our study then supports the view that the invention business is about investments of resources and human capital more than special organizational designs or local spillovers. To validate our measure, we find that it is correlated with all the most commonly employed proxies of the value of patents.
ABSTRACT The German economy is highly specialized in incremental innovations. A number of high-te... more ABSTRACT The German economy is highly specialized in incremental innovations. A number of high-technology industries have established themselves in Germany only slowly over the last decades. Innovation policy has tried to support the startup of high technology enterprises, e.g., by improvements for certain types of finance, incentives for founders and the reform of technology commercialization at universities. However, these measures have been counteracted by the German tax system which affects innovation adversely in some parts. Moreover, the emerging shifts in the age structure of the German population could affect innovation incentives and entrepreneurship negatively. Another important demographic aspect is the dominance of men in science and technology. Stronger participation by women in male-dominated scientific and technical professions could compensate partially for the effects of changes in the age structure. Copyright 2008 der Autor Journal compilation 2008, Verein für Socialpolitik und Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Open-Source-Software (OSS) ist in vielfacher Hinsicht faszinierend. Sie ermoglicht die Vereinigun... more Open-Source-Software (OSS) ist in vielfacher Hinsicht faszinierend. Sie ermoglicht die Vereinigung zwischen Wettbewerb und kollektivem Eigentum; die Integration des Produktnutzers in den Erstellungsprozess; die Beteiligung von einzelnen Programmieren ebenso wie das Engagement von grosen Konzernen; die gleichzeitige Verfolgung von Wettbewerb und Kooperation sowie die Vereinigung von altruistischem Verhalten mit okonomischem Nutzenkalkul.
Seit Ende der 90er Jahre lasst sich in Wirtschaftspraxis und in der Wissenschaft ein steigendes I... more Seit Ende der 90er Jahre lasst sich in Wirtschaftspraxis und in der Wissenschaft ein steigendes Interesse am Phanomen der OSS verzeichnen. Die Grunde fur die Popularitat des Themas sind vielfaltig:
Unter „Software“ im engeren Sinne wird im landlaufigen Sprachgebrauch eine Sammlung von Anweisung... more Unter „Software“ im engeren Sinne wird im landlaufigen Sprachgebrauch eine Sammlung von Anweisungen, sogenannten Programmen, verstanden, die durch einen Computer (Hardware) ausgefuhrt werden konnen. Die historische Entwicklung der Software-Industrie soll hier kurz skizziert werden, um den Status Quo der Industrie und die heute gebrauchlichen Geschaftsmodelle verstehen zu konnen.10
Germany is one of few countries in which the monetary compensation for inventors is not only dete... more Germany is one of few countries in which the monetary compensation for inventors is not only determined by negotiations between employer and employee-inventor, but also by relatively precise legal provisions. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of the German Employees' Inventions Act (GEIA) and discuss which incentives it creates. We rely on responses from a recent survey of 3,350 German inventors to test hypotheses regarding this institution. We conclude from our data that the law creates substantial monetary rewards for productive inventors. The qualitative responses from our survey confirm this view, but also point to a number of dysfunctional effects.
We analyze the duration and outcomes of patent examination at the European Patent Office utilizin... more We analyze the duration and outcomes of patent examination at the European Patent Office utilizing an unusually rich data set covering a random sample of 215,265 applications filed between 1982 and 1998. In our empirical analysis, we distinguish between three groups of determinants: applicant characteristics, indicators of patent quality and value, and determinants that affect the complexity of the examination task. The results from an accelerated failure time model indicate that more controversial claims lead to slower grants but faster withdrawals, whereas well-documented applications are approved faster and withdrawn more slowly. We find strong evidence that applicants accelerate grant proceedings for their most valuable patents, but that they also prolong the battle for such patents if a withdrawal or refusal is imminent. This paper develops implications of these results for managerial decision making in research and development and innovation management.
This article assesses the impact in the US of adopting a patent post-grant review (PGR) procedure... more This article assesses the impact in the US of adopting a patent post-grant review (PGR) procedure similar to one provided in the America Invents Act (AIA) of 2011. We employ novel methods for matching US patents to their European counterparts to find that opposition rates are about three times higher among European Patent Office (EPO) equivalents of US litigated patents as against control-group (unlitigated) patents. Contingent on reaching a final judgment in EPO post-grant opposition, we find that about 70% of these equivalents have challenged claims that are either completely revoked or amended. Using our empirical findings to inform a series of welfare estimates, we calculate benefit-to-cost ratios that the US may expect from implementing PGR in the range of 4:1-10:1. We also discover that these large social benefits result primarily from eliminating unwarranted market power in the current stock of granted patents, and much less so from litigation cost savings per se. Our results provide evidence that the US may benefit substantially from adopting the AIA post-grant review, but only provided that costs are controlled and that administration and appeals are not allowed to become too costly.
By using survey data on a large sample of European patents, we estimate the determinants of a com... more By using survey data on a large sample of European patents, we estimate the determinants of a composite indicator of patent value that summarizes information from many indirect indicators commonly employed by the literature. The elasticity of man-months on the value of one patent is small, 4%, while that on the number of patents in the portfolio of technically connected patents is higher, about 20%. This is in line with Rosenberg's view of the innovation process: firms can better control the number of innovations than their economic value, which depends on many factors (demand or complementary inventions) outside their control. The paper also finds that more experienced inventors, with more past citations, exploit incremental trajectories, as implied by the fact that they produce very efficiently many innovations of lower value. In addition, we find that education (PhD) replaces many years of age-related experience, and that portfolios of higher values are more likely to come from PhDs (or older inventors) who have not yet produced major inventions.
Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics JITE, 2004
Before entering into the discussion of the paper, let me point out that if you continue reading t... more Before entering into the discussion of the paper, let me point out that if you continue reading this comment, you have agreed to (i) never criticize the author of these lines in any review, paper, or conversation, nor sue him in any court, and (ii) never communicate or make use of any facts contained in this presentation (no matter where I got them from or whether they are facts at all). You are excluded from reading this and the next pages if you do not consent to these two restrictions. If the readers of these lines feel annoyed by these restrictions, then they care about the issues raised in Margaret Jane Radin's paper. At the same time, even some of the readers who would not want to see the aforementioned rights signed away may confess that by clicking at the appropriate place in some software setup menu they have in the past agreed to stipulations and conditions similar to those above. Shrink-wrap, click-wrap, and browse-wrap contracts are increasingly used in the digital environment. Margaret Jane Radin's paper focuses on these modern forms of contract, on their relationship to our notion of property and on the role of technology in either circumventing or enforcing the effects that such contract provisions might have.
Using a sample of approximately 11000 West German ¢rms from all major sectors of the economy, we ... more Using a sample of approximately 11000 West German ¢rms from all major sectors of the economy, we test predictions on the relationship between legal form, ¢rm survival and employment growth. In our tests, we distinguish between voluntary liquidation without losses to creditors and bankruptcy, that is forced liquidation. We demonstrate that in all sectors ¢rms under limited liability have higher growth and higher insolvency rates than comparable ¢rms under full liability. Firms whose owners are approaching retirement age are characterised by relatively high hazards of voluntary liquidation, while the propensity to declare insolvency is not a¡ected by the owner's age. i. introduction The determinants of the survival and growth of ¢rms and of labour demand, have recently come to the renewed attention of researchers and policy-makers alike. At the policy level, the reasons for this are rather
R&D Spillovers, Technological Proximity, And Productivity Growth Evidence From Germ... more R&D Spillovers, Technological Proximity, And Productivity Growth Evidence From German Panel Data. Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics. Author Info. Dietmar Harhoff Additional ...
This Discussion Paper is issued under the auspices of the Centre's research programme in INDUSTRI... more This Discussion Paper is issued under the auspices of the Centre's research programme in INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Research disseminated by CEPR may include views on policy, but the Centre itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Centre for Economic Policy Research was established in 1983 as an educational charity, to promote independent analysis and public discussion of open economies and the relations among them. It is pluralist and nonpartisan, bringing economic research to bear on the analysis of medium-and long-run policy questions. These Discussion Papers often represent preliminary or incomplete work, circulated to encourage discussion and comment. Citation and use of such a paper should take account of its provisional character.
This paper estimates the determinants of the private economic value of patents from a novel and u... more This paper estimates the determinants of the private economic value of patents from a novel and unusually comprehensive dataset built from a questionnaire survey of European EPO patents. We find that the resource investments made in the research leading to the patent are an important determinant of the value of patents. We also find that the characteristics of the individual inventor (his past patents, motivation) are a more important determinant of the private value of patents than the characteristics of the organization in which he is employed (e.g. its past patents), or the location in which the invention is carried out. Our study then supports the view that the invention business is about investments of resources and human capital more than special organizational designs or local spillovers. To validate our measure, we find that it is correlated with all the most commonly employed proxies of the value of patents.
ABSTRACT The German economy is highly specialized in incremental innovations. A number of high-te... more ABSTRACT The German economy is highly specialized in incremental innovations. A number of high-technology industries have established themselves in Germany only slowly over the last decades. Innovation policy has tried to support the startup of high technology enterprises, e.g., by improvements for certain types of finance, incentives for founders and the reform of technology commercialization at universities. However, these measures have been counteracted by the German tax system which affects innovation adversely in some parts. Moreover, the emerging shifts in the age structure of the German population could affect innovation incentives and entrepreneurship negatively. Another important demographic aspect is the dominance of men in science and technology. Stronger participation by women in male-dominated scientific and technical professions could compensate partially for the effects of changes in the age structure. Copyright 2008 der Autor Journal compilation 2008, Verein für Socialpolitik und Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Open-Source-Software (OSS) ist in vielfacher Hinsicht faszinierend. Sie ermoglicht die Vereinigun... more Open-Source-Software (OSS) ist in vielfacher Hinsicht faszinierend. Sie ermoglicht die Vereinigung zwischen Wettbewerb und kollektivem Eigentum; die Integration des Produktnutzers in den Erstellungsprozess; die Beteiligung von einzelnen Programmieren ebenso wie das Engagement von grosen Konzernen; die gleichzeitige Verfolgung von Wettbewerb und Kooperation sowie die Vereinigung von altruistischem Verhalten mit okonomischem Nutzenkalkul.
Seit Ende der 90er Jahre lasst sich in Wirtschaftspraxis und in der Wissenschaft ein steigendes I... more Seit Ende der 90er Jahre lasst sich in Wirtschaftspraxis und in der Wissenschaft ein steigendes Interesse am Phanomen der OSS verzeichnen. Die Grunde fur die Popularitat des Themas sind vielfaltig:
Unter „Software“ im engeren Sinne wird im landlaufigen Sprachgebrauch eine Sammlung von Anweisung... more Unter „Software“ im engeren Sinne wird im landlaufigen Sprachgebrauch eine Sammlung von Anweisungen, sogenannten Programmen, verstanden, die durch einen Computer (Hardware) ausgefuhrt werden konnen. Die historische Entwicklung der Software-Industrie soll hier kurz skizziert werden, um den Status Quo der Industrie und die heute gebrauchlichen Geschaftsmodelle verstehen zu konnen.10
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