Do patents over-compensate innovators?
结合创新生产函数的实证发现（研发支出与发明之间的弹性约为0.5或更高），重新分析最优专利保护水平，并利用研发的私人和社会回报估计评估当前专利保护是否过度补偿创新者。
Is the current level of patent protection too high or too low? To address this issue, this paper reformulates the theoretical analysis of the optimal level of patent protection to take into account the empirical findings of the innovation production function literature. This literature finds a strong relationship between R&D spending and inventions and estimates an elasticity of the supply of inventions of 0.5 or more. The paper then assesses the current level of patent protection, exploiting estimates of the private and social returns to R&D taken from the empirical literature and other available sources. Although more research is needed for a more precise assessment, the evidence available suggests that patents do not over-compensate innovators.— Vincenzo Denicolò