TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lerner,Josh
TI  - Patent Protection and Innovation Over 150 Years
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8977
PY  - 2002
Y2  - June 2002
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8977
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8977.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Josh Lerner
Harvard Business School
Rock Center 214
Boston, MA 02163
Tel: 617/495-6065
Fax: 617/496-7357
E-Mail: jlerner@hbs.edu
AB  - 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.
ER  -