PATENT PROTECTION, MARKET UNCERTAINTY, AND R&D INVESTMENT

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Czarnitzki, Dirk; Toole, Andrew A.
• 署名单位: University of Copenhagen; United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/REST_a_00069
• 发表日期: 2011-02
• 页码: 147-159
• 关键词: real options; MODEL; irreversibility; BUSINESS; COSTS

摘要

The main reason governments grant patent protection is to spur innovation. However, the size of the R&D stimulus from patent protection is far from clear because it depends on how effective patents are as a mechanism for appropriating returns. Drawing on real options investment theory, this paper highlights one mechanism through which patents may improve appropriability and stimulate R&D investment: patents reduce the effect of market uncertainty on the firm's investment decision. We find that firm-level R&D investment falls in response to higher levels of uncertainty, but that patent protection partially mitigates the influence of uncertainty.