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Patents versus Subsidies – A Laboratory Experiment

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Author Info

  • Donja Darai

    () (Socioeconomic Institute, University of Zurich)

  • Jens Grosser

    () (Departments of Political Science and Economics, Florida State University)

  • Nadja Trhal

    () (Economics Department, University of Cologne)

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of patents and subsidies on R&D investment decisions. The theoretical framework is a two-stage game consisting of an investment and a market stage. In equilibrium, both patents and subsidies induce the same amount of R&D investment, which is higher than the investment without governmental incentives. In the first stage, the firms can invest in a stochastic R&D project which might lead to a reduction of the marginal production costs and in the second stage, the firms face price competition. Both stages of the game are implemented in a laboratory experiment and the obtained results support the theoretical predictions. Patents and subsidies increase investment in R&D and the observed amounts of investment in the patent and subsidy treatment do not differ significantly across both instruments. However, we observe overinvestment in all three treatments. Observed prices in the market stage converge to equilibrium price levels.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute in its series Working Papers with number 0905.

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Length: 59 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:soz:wpaper:0905

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Keywords: R&D investment; oligopoly; patents; subsidies; experiment;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Ilja Neustadt & Peter Zweifel, 2009. "Economic Well-Being, Social Mobility, and Preferences for Income Redistribution: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment," Working Papers 0909, University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute, revised Jan 2010.
  2. Maurus Rischatsch, 2009. "Simulating WTP Values from Random-Coefficient Models," Working Papers 0912, University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute.
  3. Maurus Rischatsch & Maria Trottmann, 2009. "Physician dispensing and the choice between generic and brand-name drugs – Do margins affect choice?," Working Papers 0911, University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute.
  4. Andreas Polk & Armin Schmutzler & Adrian Muller, 2010. "Lobbying and the Power of Multinational Firms," Working Papers 1008, University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute.
  5. Michele Sennhauser, 2009. "Why the Linear Utility Function is a Risky Choice in Discrete-Choice Experiments," Working Papers 1014, University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute.
  6. Jose Miguel Benavente & Daniel Goya, 2012. "The Economics of IP in the context of a Middle Income Country," Working Papers wp350, University of Chile, Department of Economics.

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