Patent Protection and Innovation Over 150 Years

Josh Lerner

No 8977, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The paper seeks to understand the impact of the patent system on innovation by examining shifts in the strength of patent protection across sixty countries and a 150-year period. An examination of 177 policy changes reveals that strengthening patent protection appears to have few positive effects on patent applications by entities in the country undertaking the policy change, whether filings in Great Britain or the nation making the policy change are considered. Cross-sectional analyses suggest that the impact of patent protection-enhancing shifts were greater in nations with weaker initial protection and greater economic development, consistent with economic theory. I address concerns about the endogeneity of these changes by employing an instrumental variable approach.

JEL-codes: O31 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev
Note: CF PR
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (80)

Published as Lerner, Josh. "150 Years Of Patent Protection," American Economic Review, 2002, v92(2,May), 221-225.

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