Do Stronger Patents Induce More Innovation? Evidence from the 1988 Japanese Patent Law Reforms
利用1988年日本专利法改革，通过访谈和专利数据分析，发现专利范围扩大并未显著增加企业研发投入或创新产出。
Does an expansion of patent scope induce more innovative effort by firms? We examine responses to the Japanese patent reforms of 1988. Interviews with practitioners and professional documents for patent agents suggest the reforms significantly expanded the scope of patent rights. However, econometric analysis using both Japanese and U.S. patent data on 307 Japanese firms finds no evidence of an increase in either R&D spending or innovative output which could be plausibly attributed to patent reform.