What is the optimal system of intellectual property rights to encourage innovation? Empirical evidence from economic … existence of strong patent laws encourage innovation? And 2) May patent laws influence the direction – as opposed to the rate … innovations in developing countries, discourage innovation in the developing countries? This essay summarizes results of existing …

new drugs, however, are theoretically ambiguous: Compulsory licensing may encourage innovation by increasing competition … or discourage innovation by reducing expected returns to R&D. Empirical evidence is rare, primarily because contemporary …

, has emphasized the importance of patents as a primary driver of innovation. Recent improvements in empirical methodology … when patent rights have been too broad or strong, they have actually discouraged innovation. This paper summarizes the …