Patent Rights, Product Market Reforms, and Innovation
Prof. Dr. Susanne Prantl, University of Cologne
Can patent protection and product market competition complement each other in enhancing incentives to innovate? In this paper, we address this question by empirically investigating heterogeneity in innovation responses to a substantial reform increasing product market competition, depending on the strength of patent rights. We provide evidence of innovation responding positively to the reform in industries of countries where patent rights are strong, not so in other countries. This positive response is more pronounced in those industries where innovators rely more on patenting than in other industries. Our empirical findings are in line with a step-by-step innovation model where product market competition enhances innovation and, more importantly, where competition and patent protection can be complementary in inducing innovation.
About the speaker
Susanne Prantl is Professor of Industrial Economics and Applied Microeconometrics at the University of Cologne, a Research Affiliate of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn and an International Fellow of the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London. She has a diploma and doctorate in economics from the University of Mannheim and held positions at the University of Mannheim, the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, the Max Planck Society, and the University College of London. In addition, she worked as a visiting scholar at Harvard University. Her research interests focus on firm entry, innovation, product and labor market regulation, competition and productivity. She has published in journals like the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Journal of the European Economic Association, Small Business Economics, and Economics of Transition.
Venue: Conference Room
Date: 13 September 2012
Time: 12:30 - 13:30 CET
