The Nature of Innovative Activity and the Protection of Intellectual Property in Asia

This paper examines trends in innovative activity in several major Asian countries during the period 1997–2011 as measured by their filings and grants of various types of intellectual property (IP). By almost all measures, there has been a remarkable increase in innovative activity in China. In fact, in 2011, China accounted for roughly 25% of global patent applications. However, several indirect measures suggest that the quality of this newly created Chinese IP is not (yet) world‐class. For example, relative to residents of other major Asian countries and the USA, Chinese residents tend to file IP applications in foreign markets at a much lower rate. Similarly, the ratio of royalty payments earned by Chinese residents to the number of patents granted to them is fairly low by international standards. Finally, the ratio of patent to utility model applications (typically granted for relatively minor innovations) in China is also relatively small.     

Types of patents and driving forces behind the patent growth in China

As a developing economy, China's unprecedented patenting surge is puzzling. We study China's patent surge and its driving forces using a novel and comprehensive merged dataset on patent applications filed by Chinese firms. We find that R&D investment, FDI, and patent subsidy have different effects on different types of patents. First, R&D investment has a positive and significant impact on patenting activities for all types of patents under different model specifications. Second, the stimulating effect of foreign direct investment on patent applications is only robust for utility model patents and design patents. Third, the patent subsidy only has a positive impact on design patents. The results imply that FDI and patent subsidy may disproportionately spur low-quality patents.     

The impact of private equity on firms׳ patenting activity

The paper analyses the impact of private equity (PE) backed leveraged buyouts (LBOs) on innovative output (patenting). Using a sample of 407 UK deals we find that LBOs have a positive causal effect on patent stock and quality-adjusted patent stock. Our results imply a 6% increase in quality-adjusted patent stock three years after the deal. The increase in innovative activity is concentrated among private-to-private transactions with a 14% increase in the quality-adjusted patent stock. We also find evidence suggesting that PE firms facilitate the relaxation of financial constraints. In sum, our findings suggest that PE firms do not promote short-term cost-cutting at the expense of entrepreneurial investment opportunities with a long-term pay-off.     

Two-way relationship between innovation and market structure: evidence from Indian high and medium technology firms

ABSTRACT

This study analyses a two-way relationship between innovation and market structure in Indian high and medium technology firms. We perform an empirical analysis based on a simultaneous equation model on data for 991 high and medium technology firms during 2000–2015. Patent applications and patent grants capture innovation activity of the firms. We find that the market structure has an insignificant impact on innovation. A separate analysis of neck-and-neck firms also suggests that market structure has no impact on innovation. On the other hand, patenting has a positive and significant impact on market structure in both high and medium technology firms. The study concludes that in-house technology creation is a vital source of market dominance in Indian high and medium technology firms.     

The determinants of academic patenting by Italian universities

This work investigates the determinants of patenting at Italian universities. We test the effect of public and external funds, in terms of commercial activity by universities, towards the propensity of universities to file patents at the European Patent Office. We then estimate the effect of several variables referring to the contextual characteristics of both university and localisation. The results suggest that, while in the southern regions of Italy commercial income bears a negative effect on the patenting activity of universities, in the other regions we register an important positive effect. We moreover find that the adoption of internal university regulations relating to patenting and the fact of being embedded in an innovative region are factors that exert a positive influence on the university rate of application for patents.     

China's agricultural patents: How has their value changed amid recent patent boom?

Patent applications have surged in China over the past two decades. Has the application boom been accompanied by a simultaneous drop in the value (quality) of the patents? Our research examines this question by analyzing invention patents in agriculture. Using data from China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) for patents between 1985 and 2005 that had been granted before January 2011, we conduct duration analysis of patent life span and the length of patent renewal with the Weibull and Cox Proportional Hazard modeling respectively. The results show that the value of Chinese agricultural patents, measured by their life span and renewal length, has been improving, although foreign grants are still maintained significantly longer than domestic ones. For domestic grants, private entities, especially companies, are more likely to have a longer patent protection period than public entities. Furthermore, patent value varies significantly across different technological fields, with grants to inventions in complex and emerging technologies such as agricultural biotechnology and agricultural chemicals demonstrating higher value than others. The findings have implications for understanding the impacts of China's innovation policy on global patenting activities as well as China's innovation trajectory in agriculture and other sectors.     

The effect of public financial aid on dropout from and completion of university education: evidence from a student grant reform

There is limited and uncertain evidence on how financial aid affects dropout from or the completion of higher education. A large-scale reform of the Danish student grant and loan system that among others increased student grants by up to $3,000 per year (57 %) was used to identify causal effects of financial aid on outcomes for university students. Estimates were obtained from year-of-study specific models for students observed just before and after the reform, controlling for student, parental and labour-market characteristics. The estimates indicate that the reform lowered dropout rates, but had no overall effect on completion rates, although with substantial variation across population subgroups. The impact on dropout rates was found to be higher for students from a lower socio-economic background and the impact on completion rates was found to be higher three years after the designated study time to completion. The reform seems to have performed as intended by increasing the take-up of student grants and lowering work hours while studying.     

Does the Protection of Foreign Intellectual Property Rights Stimulate Innovation in the US?

Although standard theories suggest that patent protection helps stimulate innovative activities, some new theories argue the opposite. Empirical studies do not generate conclusive results either. This paper investigates empirically the impacts of foreign patent reforms on innovation in the US, using data on successful patent applications in the US over 33 years and major IPR reforms in 21 countries, in addition to the patent reforms in the US and the TRIPS Agreement of the WTO. We find that the TRIPS Agreement has had significant impacts on innovation in the US, which highlights the importance of international cooperation in patent protection. However, the effects of strengthening patent protection by individual countries are not statistically significant. This result seems to imply that the US market is already sufficiently large/profitable to provide innovation incentives in the US and therefore further strengthening foreign patent protection simply increases the US innovators' rent, but not their innovation.     

Transfer of Technology to Canadian Manufacturing Industries Through Patents

This paper examines the determinants of foreign patent activity in the Canadian manufacturing sector at the industry level. Since foreign patenting is one of the channels of technology transfer to a country, this study could also show the transfer of foreign technology into Canadian industries measured by foreign patent activity. The paper suggests that the patent activity of foreign countries is the most important factor for receiving foreign patents in Canada. Moreover, imports and foreign direct investments are important vehicles this context. The distance between countries has a negative impact on receiving foreign patents. The impacts of R&D intensity and human capital on receiving foreign patents are mixed and insignificant, but industries with a higher R&D intensity are better recipients of foreign patents.     

基于SEM的区域专利申请驱动因素的实证研究

一个区域内专利申请活动的活跃性反映了该区域技术进步水平和创新能力的高低。在对区域专利申请活动及其驱动因素分析的基础上,提出了区域专利申请活动驱动因素的概念模型及研究假设,并进行了实证检验,最后提出了中西部地区专利发展的对策建议。     

创新环境对校企协同创新作用的实证分析

利用1991—2010年中国创新活动的数据,以校企联合申请专利数表征校企协同创新产出,以政府支持力度、产业结构特征、人力资本条件和市场制度4个间接指标反映创新环境,构建多元回归模型来实证分析创新环境对校企协同创新的促进作用。研究结果显示:创新环境的4个要素对校企协同创新产出有正向的促进作用;总体来看,校企协同创新能力受外界创新环境要素的影响,国家创新环境的改善有助于校企协同创新能力的提升。     

风险投资介入与企业创新：基于PSM模型的经验证据

“大众创业、万众创新”背景下，研究风险投资介入对企业创新绩效的影响具有重要理论与现实意义。以2010-2017年创业板公司为样本，采用倾向得分匹配法（PSM）模型,实证分析风险投资介入对企业创新绩效的影响,发现风险投资介入显著促进专利申请量，且对发明专利申请量和实用新型专利申请量有显著正向作用，而对外观设计专利影响并不显著。进一步考察不同背景和投资策略的风险投资对创新绩效的潜在影响，结果显示：与单独投资相比，联合投资对专利总申请量和发明专利申请量增加的促进作用更显著；与私营风险投资和外资风险投资相比，国有风险投资具有更强的发明取向和更长的投资时间，能显著促进发明专利等创新绩效提升，而私营和外资风险投资对公司创新绩效的影响不显著。     

Knowledge,location, and internationalization: empirical evidence for manufacturing SMEs

This paper investigates the links between locational conditions, innovative capabilities, and internationalization of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Two modes of foreign market servicing are explored: exporting activity and relocating of selected business activities abroad. The analysis is based on the survey of about 3000 firms. The results reveal that the outputs of SMEs' innovative activities – product innovations and patent applications – enhance exporting propensity. Nevertheless, the input-side indicator – R&D intensity – appears to exert no impact. Furthermore, the locational factor proximity to research institutions promotes SMEs' exporting. Regarding the determinants of selective relocations abroad, the findings show that SMEs with a high degree of R&D are less likely to separate production from other operations and relocate it abroad. Moreover, manufacturing SMEs assessing the proximity to research facilities, as well as support from various regional authorities as important and good-quality locational conditions, exhibit a significantly lower likelihood to relocate selected activities abroad.     

Universities and global competition for graduate students: scenarios for Latin America

The purpose of this paper is to lay out future scenarios related to the impact of the intensification of competition between universities and research centres of OECD countries on the stocks and flows of university graduates in Latin America. In conditions of intensified competence, it is possible that the ways in which Latin American countries, universities and university professionals participate in the processes of international mobility will change significantly. This paper proposes different scenarios, combining hypotheses about the global dynamics of skilled mobility and migration of graduate students (conditioned by the behaviour of the demand in developed countries), about their main impacts on Latin America, and about the responses that Latin American governments and universities could make to face this process.     

Universities and global competition for graduate students: scenarios for Latin America

The purpose of this paper is to lay out future scenarios related to the impact of the intensification of competition between universities and research centres of OECD countries on the stocks and flows of university graduates in Latin America. In conditions of intensified competence, it is possible that the ways in which Latin American countries, universities and university professionals participate in the processes of international mobility will change significantly. This paper proposes different scenarios, combining hypotheses about the global dynamics of skilled mobility and migration of graduate students (conditioned by the behaviour of the demand in developed countries), about their main impacts on Latin America, and about the responses that Latin American governments and universities could make to face this process.     

The impact of NCAA men’s basketball probations on the quantity and quality of student applications and enrollment

Collegiate sports programmes have been characterized as the front porch of a university, serving to publicize the institution and draw students to the door. Previous research in this area has indicated a positive correlation between athletic success and the quantity and quality of students attending the university. Conversely, we seek to analyse if athletic malfeasance, as measured by NCAA probations of men’s basketball programmes, negatively affects either the quantity or quality of students at a university. Our findings suggest that while basketball probations do not change the overall quantity of applications nor enrolment at a university, there is a significant adverse impact on the quality of freshman enrolling at the university as measured by Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. Our finding suggests that athletics do indeed serve as a front porch to a university and that athletic sanctions in men’s basketball have a detrimental effect on the average quality of students attending a university.     

TRIPs and patenting activity: Evidence from the Indian pharmaceutical industry

This paper studies the impact of the strict patent regime on the patenting activity of Indian pharmaceutical firms and finds that patenting activity of these firms has increased after the signing of TRIPs. The study is conducted for 65 pharmaceutical firms for the period 1991 to 2004 using different parametric and semiparametric count panel data models. Results across different count data models indicate a positive and significant impact of the introduction of stronger patents on patenting activity. Further, the results show a gestation lag of 2 years between R&D spending and patent applications.     

The negative effect of NCAA football bowl bans on university enrolment and applications

Universities provide consumption amenities to students in addition to their educational services. Collegiate sports programs have been characterized as one of these consumption amenities. Previous research has shown that athletic success has a positive impact on both the quantity and quality of students attending a university. Alternatively, we analyse if athletic malfeasance, as measured by NCAA postseason bans of football programs, negatively affects either the quantity or quality of student applications or enrolment. Our findings suggest that athletic malfeasance that results in a postseason football bowl ban lowers the quantity of applications, admittances and enrolment to a university. In addition, we find that universities respond to decreased application numbers by increasing their admission rates, while students who are admitted to the school enrol at the same rate as before the ban. Thus, the reduced enrolment is the result of a smaller applicant pool and not the result of a lower rate of enrolment. Lastly, we do not detect any reduction in student quality at the sanctioned university. Our results demonstrate that impropriety by an athletics program directly impacts a university’s non-athlete student enrolment by influencing the amenity mix provided by the university.     

Innovation under the Climate Wise program

This paper examines the impact of participation in the Climate Wise program, one of the largest voluntary programs enacted in the US, on innovative activity by firms. In operation from 1993 to 2000, the Climate Wise program was designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promoting innovation in energy efficiency and energy related activities. We begin by examining what types of firms were most likely to participate in this voluntary initiative. We find that the Climate Wise program was attractive to large firms, more R&D intensive firms, and firms with more financial resources. To consider the impact of Climate Wise participation on the innovative behavior of firms, we investigate whether participants and non-participants differed in the number of successful environmental and non-environmental patent applications between 1993 and 2003. We find some evidence that participation in the Climate Wise leads to a change in environmental patenting but only among less R&D intensive firms.     

Environmental Policy and the International Diffusion of Cleaner Energy Technologies

Technology transfer is an important channel of technological change and sustainable development for countries with less innovative ability than technological leaders. This paper studies whether domestic environmental policies affect the inward technology transfer of cleaner innovation from abroad. We focus specifically on the power sector, for its important role in the decarbonization process, by looking at zero-carbon (renewable) and carbon-saving (efficient fossil) technologies for energy production. Using data on cross-country patent applications, we provide evidence that environmental policy contributes to attracting foreign cleaner technology options to OECD markets but not to non-OECD markets. We show that this is due to the nature of the implemented policy instruments. Market-based approaches positively impact technology transfer to both OECD and non-OECD economies, while non-market based approaches have at best only a weak effect in OECD countries. Domestic environmental policies may provide too weak a signal for foreign innovators in countries off the technological frontier. This calls for a strengthening of policy incentives for technology transfer in light of pressing climate change objectives.