James E. Bessen

Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law

Executive Director

765 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02215

United States

  • Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law

SCHOLARLY PAPERS

49

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269

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384

Scholarly Papers (49)

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1.

How Computer Automation Affects Occupations: Technology, Jobs, and Skills

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 15-49
Number of pages: 46 Posted: 15 Nov 2015 Last Revised: 04 Oct 2016
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 12,637 (368)
Citation 42

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technology, automation, human capital, job polarization, occupations, wage inequality

2.

The Private and Social Costs of Patent Trolls

Downloads 6,644 ( 1,174)
Citation 47

The Private and Social Costs of Patent Trolls

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 11-45
Number of pages: 35 Posted: 19 Sep 2011 Last Revised: 30 Sep 2012
James E. Bessen, Michael J. Meurer and Jennifer Laurissa Ford
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law, Boston University - School of Law and affiliation not provided to SSRN
Downloads 6,126 (1,339)
Citation 64

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patent, litigation, litigation cost, non-practicing entities, software patents

The Private and Social Costs of Patent Trolls

Regulation, Vol. 34, No. 4, p. 26, Winter 2011-2012
Number of pages: 10 Posted: 10 Jan 2012
James E. Bessen, Jennifer Laurissa Ford and Michael J. Meurer
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law, affiliation not provided to SSRN and Boston University - School of Law
Downloads 518 (63,307)

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3.

The Direct Costs from NPE Disputes

99 Cornell L. Rev. 387 (2014), Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 12-34
Number of pages: 54 Posted: 25 Jun 2012 Last Revised: 27 Mar 2015
James E. Bessen and Michael J. Meurer
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Boston University - School of Law
Downloads 6,425 (1,246)
Citation 47

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patent, litigation, litigation cost, non-practicing entities, software patents

4.

Automation and Jobs: When Technology Boosts Employment

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 17-09
Number of pages: 50 Posted: 18 Mar 2017 Last Revised: 14 Feb 2019
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 4,004 (2,818)
Citation 21

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Automation, technical change, sectoral growth, labor demand, manufacturing, computer technology, deindustrialization

5.

A Generation of Software Patents

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 11-31, Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2011-04
Number of pages: 30 Posted: 21 Jun 2011 Last Revised: 10 Jun 2012
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 3,940 (2,907)
Citation 10

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patents, software, software patents, litigation, innovation, startup firms

6.

The Private Costs of Patent Litigation

Boston University School of Law Working Paper No. 07-08, 2nd Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies Paper
Number of pages: 43 Posted: 02 May 2007 Last Revised: 05 Dec 2014
James E. Bessen and Michael J. Meurer
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Boston University - School of Law
Downloads 2,685 (5,600)
Citation 42

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patent, litigation, litigation cost, property rights

7.

Sequential Innovation, Patents, and Imitation

Number of pages: 34 Posted: 09 Feb 2000
James E. Bessen and Eric Maskin
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Princeton University - Department of Economics
Downloads 2,527 (6,176)
Citation 94

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8.

Industry Concentration and Information Technology

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 17-41
Number of pages: 49 Posted: 02 Oct 2017 Last Revised: 26 Jun 2019
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 2,040 (8,817)
Citation 14

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information technology, computers, industry concentration, profit margins, antitrust, productivity dispersion

9.

Automatic Reaction - What Happens to Workers at Firms that Automate?

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper
Number of pages: 62 Posted: 05 Feb 2019 Last Revised: 18 Sep 2019
James E. Bessen, Maarten Goos, Anna Salomons and Wiljan Van den Berge
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law, Utrecht University, Utrecht University - School of Economics and CPB Netherlands Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis
Downloads 1,954 (9,467)
Citation 24

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Automation, Technological Change, Displacement

10.

Accounting for Rising Corporate Profits: Intangibles or Regulatory Rents?

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 16-18
Number of pages: 51 Posted: 11 May 2016 Last Revised: 10 Nov 2016
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 1,760 (11,152)
Citation 11

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Regulation, intangibles, economic rents

11.

The Patent Litigation Explosion

Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 05-18
Number of pages: 41 Posted: 26 Oct 2005
James E. Bessen and Michael J. Meurer
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Boston University - School of Law
Downloads 1,580 (13,235)
Citation 54

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patent, litigation, settlement, licensing, property rights

12.

The Value of U.S. Patents by Owner and Patent Characteristics

Boston University School of Law Working Paper No. 06-46
Number of pages: 36 Posted: 06 Dec 2006
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 1,573 (13,329)
Citation 27

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Technology, patents, innovation, patent value, markets for technology

13.

Patent Thickets: Strategic Patenting of Complex Technologies

Number of pages: 30 Posted: 03 Oct 2002
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 1,568 (13,412)
Citation 37

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patents, technological innovation, intellectual property

14.

Open Source Software: Free Provision of Complex Public Goods

Number of pages: 25 Posted: 30 Jul 2001
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 1,504 (14,304)
Citation 57

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Software, Contracting, Information Goods, Complexity

15.

Perpetuating Inequality: What Salary History Bans Reveal About Wages

Number of pages: 42 Posted: 24 Jun 2020 Last Revised: 26 Mar 2021
James E. Bessen, Chen Meng and Erich Denk
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law, Technology & Policy Research Initiative, Boston University and Boston University - Technology & Policy Research Initiative
Downloads 1,455 (15,169)
Citation 2

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gender pay gap; salary history ban; labor discrimination, wage inequality, wage bargaining

16.

The Business of AI Startups

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 18-28
Number of pages: 34 Posted: 03 Dec 2018 Last Revised: 11 Sep 2019
James E. Bessen, Stephen Michael Impink, Lydia Reichensperger and Robert Seamans
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law, New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Downloads 1,361 (16,768)
Citation 5

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artificial intelligence, automation, technology, labor-saving technological change, entry barriers, data protection

17.

An Empirical Look at Software Patents

Downloads 1,351 ( 16,921)
Citation 65

An Empirical Look at Software Patents

FRB of Philadelphia Working Paper No. 03-17
Number of pages: 53 Posted: 01 Apr 2004
James E. Bessen and Robert M. Hunt
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Consumer Finance Institute, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Downloads 1,334 (16,931)
Citation 82

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Software Patents Innovation Technological Change

An Empirical Look at Software Patents

Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 157-189, Spring 2007
Number of pages: 33 Posted: 18 Jan 2007
James E. Bessen and Robert M. Hunt
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Consumer Finance Institute, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Downloads 17 (651,318)
Citation 1
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18.

Do Patents Perform Like Property?

Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 08-08
Number of pages: 31 Posted: 07 Mar 2008
Michael J. Meurer and James E. Bessen
Boston University - School of Law and Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 1,162 (21,242)

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patent, property rights, research and development

19.

Trends in Private Patent Costs and Rents for Publicly-Traded United States Firms

Boston Univ. School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 13-24, Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 13-24
Number of pages: 52 Posted: 12 Jun 2013 Last Revised: 24 May 2018
James E. Bessen, Peter Neuhäusler, John L. Turner and Jonathan W. Williams
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, University of Georgia - C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business - Department of Economics and University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - Department of Economics
Downloads 1,027 (25,437)
Citation 2

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event study, market-value regression, patent, litigation, non-practicing entities, research and development

20.

Lessons for Patent Policy from Empirical Research on Patent Litigation

Lewis & Clark Law Review, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1-27, 2005, Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 05-22
Number of pages: 28 Posted: 18 Nov 2005
Michael J. Meurer and James E. Bessen
Boston University - School of Law and Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 766 (38,398)
Citation 2

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patent, litigation, settlement, licensing, property rights

21.

Estimates of Patent Rents from Firm Market Value

Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 06-14
Number of pages: 41 Posted: 28 Jun 2006 Last Revised: 29 Nov 2014
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 741 (40,163)
Citation 26

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technology, patents, innovation, patent value, firm value

22.

From Knowledge to Ideas: The Two Faces of Innovation

Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 10-35
Number of pages: 44 Posted: 28 Oct 2010 Last Revised: 31 Aug 2012
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 471 (72,055)
Citation 2

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technology, knowledge, diffusion, spillovers, human capital, information good

23.

Knowledge Sharing Among Inventors: Some Historical Perspectives

REVOLUTIONIZING INNOVATION: USERS, COMMUNITIES AND OPEN INNOVATION, MIT Press, 2012, Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 11-51, LEM Working Paper 2011/21
Number of pages: 17 Posted: 15 Oct 2011 Last Revised: 04 Oct 2013
James E. Bessen and Alessandro Nuvolari
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa - Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM)
Downloads 462 (73,754)

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technological change, knowledge sharing, collective invention, patents

24.

Waiting for Technology: Path Dependence as a Random Walk

Number of pages: 41 Posted: 08 Nov 1999
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 454 (75,337)

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25.

The Policy Challenge of Artificial Intelligence

CPI Antitrust Chronicle, June 2018, Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 18-16
Number of pages: 15 Posted: 25 Jul 2018
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 394 (88,961)

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information technology, computers, industry concentration, profit margins, antitrust, productivity gap, artificial intelligence

26.

Imperfect Property Rights

Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 09-46
Number of pages: 52 Posted: 19 Oct 2009
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 381 (92,493)
Citation 6

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property, markets, externalities, contract enforcement, regulation

27.

AI and Jobs: The Role of Demand

Downloads 378 ( 93,396)
Citation 3

AI and Jobs: The Role of Demand

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 17-46
Number of pages: 27 Posted: 29 Nov 2017
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 336 (105,951)
Citation 1

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Artificial intelligence, automation, technical change, sectoral growth, labor demand, computer technology, deindustrialization

Ai and Jobs: The Role of Demand

NBER Working Paper No. w24235
Number of pages: 27 Posted: 22 Jan 2018 Last Revised: 05 Feb 2018
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 42 (497,506)
Citation 3

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28.

More Machines, Better Machines...Or Better Workers?

Number of pages: 49 Posted: 11 Nov 2008 Last Revised: 17 Jan 2015
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 374 (94,523)
Citation 6

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technical change, productivity growth, technical bias, innovation, US manufacturing history, general purpose technologies

29.

GDPR and the Importance of Data to AI Startups

NYU Stern School of Business
Number of pages: 27 Posted: 15 Apr 2020 Last Revised: 10 Sep 2020
James E. Bessen, Stephen Michael Impink, Lydia Reichensperger and Robert Seamans
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law, New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Downloads 362 (98,075)
Citation 2

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artificial intelligence, automation, technology, data, data regulation, data protection, EU data protection reform

30.

Productivity Adjustments and Learning-by-Doing as Human Capital

CES Bureau of the Census WP 97-17
Number of pages: 37 Posted: 05 Jan 1998
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 359 (99,000)
Citation 7

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31.

Was Mechanization De-Skilling? The Origins of Task-Biased Technical Change

Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 11-13
Number of pages: 40 Posted: 25 Mar 2011 Last Revised: 31 Jan 2012
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 301 (120,267)
Citation 6

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Skill-Biased Technical Change, Technology, Engineering Production Function, Mechanization, Human Capital, Wage Inequality, Learning-by-Doing

32.

Information Technology and Firm Employment

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 19-6 (2019)
Number of pages: 50 Posted: 13 Apr 2019 Last Revised: 11 Jun 2020
James E. Bessen and Cesare Righi
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Downloads 295 (122,769)
Citation 3

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Iinformation Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Firm Productivity, Employment Growth, Firm Growth, Labor Share, Markups

33.

Hold-Up and Patent Licensing of Cumulative Innovations with Private Information

Number of pages: 25 Posted: 14 Mar 2002
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 290 (124,943)
Citation 1

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Patents, licensing, innovation, intellectual property

34.

Declining Industrial Disruption

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper 20-28
Number of pages: 54 Posted: 09 Sep 2020
James E. Bessen, Erich Denk, Joowon Kim and Cesare Righi
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law, Boston University - Technology & Policy Research Initiative, Duke University - Fuqua School of Business and Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Downloads 287 (126,335)
Citation 2

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innovation, Schumpeter, competition, information technology, disruption

35.

Evaluating the Economic Performance of Property Systems

Boston University School of Law Working Paper No. 09-30
Number of pages: 35 Posted: 02 Jul 2009 Last Revised: 17 Nov 2009
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 282 (128,674)

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property, markets, externalities, regulation

36.

Of Patents and Property

Regulation, Vol. 31, No. 4, Winter 2008-2009, Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 09-18
Number of pages: 11 Posted: 20 Feb 2009
James E. Bessen and Michael J. Meurer
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Boston University - School of Law
Downloads 280 (129,630)

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property, intellectual property, property rights, patent, property law, patent law, Industrial Revolution, economic growth, natural economic experiments, Eastern European economies, Eastern European transition, free-riders, generic drug

37.

Patents and the Diffusion of Technical Information

Downloads 253 (143,905)

Patents and the Diffusion of Technical Information

Number of pages: 14 Posted: 16 Mar 2004
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 253 (143,343)
Citation 11

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Patents, innovation, diffusion, trade secrecy

Patents and the Diffusion of Technical Information

Posted: 18 Jan 2005
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law

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Patents, innovation, diffusion, trade secrecy

38.

Make the Patent 'Polluters' Pay: Using Pigovian Fees to Curb Patent Abuse

California Law Review Circuit, Vol. 4, p. 84, 2013, Santa Clara Univ. Legal Studies Research Paper No. 14-13
Number of pages: 9 Posted: 11 Jun 2013 Last Revised: 25 May 2014
James E. Bessen and Brian J. Love
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Santa Clara University School of Law
Downloads 251 (145,017)

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patent troll, NPE, PAE, PME, patent reform, maintenance fees, Pigovian tax, patent fees

39.

Brief of Amici Curiae Law, Business, and Economics Scholars in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank, No. 13-298

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 14-11
Number of pages: 49 Posted: 27 Feb 2014
Jason Schultz, Brian J. Love, James E. Bessen and Michael J. Meurer
New York University School of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law, Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Boston University - School of Law
Downloads 249 (146,130)

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40.

Accounting for Productivity Growth When Technical Change is Biased

Research on Innovation Working Paper No. 0802
Number of pages: 35 Posted: 06 Feb 2009 Last Revised: 17 Jan 2015
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 249 (146,130)

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technical change, productivity growth, technical bias, innovation

41.

The Skills of the Unskilled in the American Industrial Revolution

Research on Innovation Working Paper
Number of pages: 51 Posted: 08 Nov 2000
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 206 (175,210)
Citation 1

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42.

Diffusing New Technology Without Dissipating Rents: Some Historical Case Studies of Knowledge Sharing

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 14-18
Number of pages: 36 Posted: 07 May 2014
James E. Bessen and Alessandro Nuvolari
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa - Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM)
Downloads 197 (182,568)
Citation 3

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technological change, technology diffusion, knowledge sharing, collective invention, patents

43.

Which Patent Systems are Better for Inventors?

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 14-50
Number of pages: 36 Posted: 19 Sep 2014
James E. Bessen and Grid Thoma
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and University of Camerino
Downloads 162 (216,568)
Citation 1

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patents, international treaties, technological change

44.

A Comment on 'Do Patents Facilitate Financing in the Software Industry?'

Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 06-13
Number of pages: 9 Posted: 28 Jun 2006
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 161 (217,659)
Citation 3

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Software, Patents, Startups, Innovation, Venture Capital

45.

Discovery, Learning and Adoption of New Techniques: Choosing Specialization to Optimize Technical Progress

Number of pages: 26 Posted: 07 May 1998
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 134 (252,888)

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46.

Information Technology and Learning On-the-Job

Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 16-47
Number of pages: 40 Posted: 10 Nov 2016
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 125 (266,463)
Citation 2

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information technology, skills, human capital, wage inequality

47.

New Plants as Natural Experiments in Economic Adjustment: Adjustment Costs, Learning-by-Doing and Lumpy Investment

Number of pages: 38 Posted: 19 Jan 2000
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law
Downloads 124 (268,048)
Citation 7

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48.

Patent Litigation with Endogenous Disputes

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Historical Research Reference in Entrepreneurship
Posted: 04 Nov 2009
James E. Bessen and Michael J. Meurer
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Boston University - School of Law

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Patent infringements, Patent law, Patent litigation, Patents, Intellectual property, Licenses, Litigation

49.

Holdup and Licensing of Cumulative Innovations with Private Information

Posted: 16 Mar 2004
James E. Bessen
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law

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Patents, licensing, innovation, intellectual property

Other Papers (1)

Total Downloads: 51
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1.

Tax the Patent Trolls

USA Today, July 24, 2013
Number of pages: 2 Posted: 15 Aug 2013 Last Revised: 05 Jun 2015
James E. Bessen and Brian J. Love
Technology & Policy Research Initiative, BU School of Law and Santa Clara University School of Law
Downloads 51

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patent troll, PAE, NPE, PME, renewal fees, maintenance fees, patent reform