How Do Patents Affect Research Investments?
While patent systems have been widely used both historically and internationally, there is nonetheless a tremendous amount of controversy over whether patent systems – in practice – improve the alignment between private returns and social contributions. In this paper, I describe three parameters – how the disclosure function affects research investments, how patent strength affects research investments in new technologies, and how patents on existing technologies affect follow-on innovation – needed to inform the question of how patents affect research investments, and review the available evidence which has attempted to empirically estimate these parameters.
Published Versions
Heidi L. Williams, 2017. "How Do Patents Affect Research Investments?," Annual Review of Economics, vol 9(1), pages 441-469. citation courtesy of 
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