Privatization of Knowledge: Did the U.S. Get It Right?

Guido Cozzi and Silvia Galli ()

No 1307, Economics Working Paper Series from University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science

Abstract: To foster innovation and growth should basic research be publicly or privately funded? This paper studies the impact of the gradual shift in the U.S. patent system towards the patentability and commercialization of the basic R&D undertaken by universities. We see this movement as making universities becoming responsive to "market" forces. Prior to 1980, universities undertook research using an exogenous stock of researchers motivated by "curiosity." After 1980, universities patent their research and behave as private firms. This move, in a context of two-stage inventions (basic and applied research) has an a priori ambiguous effect on innovation and welfare. We build a Schumpeterian model and match it to the data to assess this important turning point.

Keywords: R&D and Growth; Sequential Innovation; Basic Research; Patent Laws (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O31 O34 O41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 48 pages
Date: 2013-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-pr~ and nep-knm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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http://ux-tauri.unisg.ch/RePEc/usg/econwp/EWP-1307.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Privatization of knowledge: Did the U.S. get it right? (2021)
Working Paper: Privatization of Knowledge: Did the U.S. Get It Right?
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:usg:econwp:2013:07

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