This paper tests a number of hypotheses on the use and effectiveness of patents and trade secrets designed to protect innovation. While previous studies have often considered patents and trade secrets as substitutes for one another, we investigate the complementary role of the two protection...

Process innovation is an important part of firms’ innovation activities and supposed to significantly contribute to positive returns from innovation. Measuring process innovation output at the firm level is still in its infancy, however. This paper reports empirical evidence on measures of...

Public financial support for firm-level Research and Innovation (R&I) can generate important socio-economic returns. This is especially true if firms use this support to develop radical innovation, defined as new-to-market goods and services. However, radical innovation is risky, and prone to...

Innovativen Unternehmen, insbesondere kleinen und mittelgroßen Betrieben (KMU) wird eine Schlüsselposition für den technischen Fortschritt und die internationale Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von Industrienationen zugewiesen. Die Fähigkeit, neues Wissen zu generieren und in marktfähige Produkte,...

This policy paper outlines major policy trends in public support of innovation activities in industry and SMEs across OECD countries. It discusses the policy mix to strengthen business R&D and innovation, and possible avenues to improve this mix in response to evolving needs, driven new trends...