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Working Paper: Rents and Inefficiency in the Patent and Copyright System: Is There a Better Route?

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  • Dean Baker

Abstract

This paper analyzes the evidence for rents due to the patent and copyright systems for financing innovation and creative work. It notes research suggesting that in both the patent and copyright system, the costs in the form of monopoly pricing and rent-seeking activity outweigh the benefits. It then proposes alternatives to the patent and copyright system. The Kauffman Foundation helped support this work.

Suggested Citation

  • Dean Baker, 2016. "Working Paper: Rents and Inefficiency in the Patent and Copyright System: Is There a Better Route?," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2016-12, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
    • Handle: RePEc:epo:papers:2016-12
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Enes Işık & Özgür Orhangazi, 2022. "Profitability and drug discovery," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 31(4), pages 891-904.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I - Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • K - Law and Economics
    • K11 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Property Law

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