Max-Planck-Institut für Innovation und Wettbewerb, München, Raum 313
We investigate the impact of the introduction of patent rights for software inventions in the U.S. on academic computer scientists’ publication output. Difference-in-difference estimations that compare U.S. academic computer scientists working on software to (1) U.S. academic scientists working on hardware and (2) European university scientists working on software reveals that the introduction of software patents in the U.S. led to a decrease of (citation-weighted) publications as compared to U.S. computer scientists working on hardware and as compared to the European peers. The effect is stronger for scientists at the left-hand side of the ability distribution. This pattern is consistent with a simple model of time allocation between patenting and publishing. (joint work with Laurent Bergé and Thorsten Doherr)
Ansprechpartner: Felix Pöge