Fragmented property rights and R&D competition

Where product innovation requires several complementary patents, fragmented property rights can be a factor that limits firms’ willingness to invest in the development and commercialization of new products. This paper studies multiple simultaneous R&D contests for complementary patents and how they interact with patent portfolios that firms may have acquired already. We also consider how this interaction and the intensity of the contests depends on the type of patent trade regimes and the product market equilibria that result from these regimes. We solve for the contest equilibria and show that the multiple patent product involves an important hold-up problem that considerably reduces the overall contest effort

Fragmented property rights and R&D competition

Where product innovation requires several complementary patents, fragmented property rights can be a factor that limits firms’ willingness to invest in the development and commercialization of new products. This paper studies multiple simultaneous R&D contests for complementary patents and how they interact with patent portfolios that firms may have acquired already. We also consider how this interaction and the intensity of the contests depends on the type of patent trade regimes and the product market equilibria that result from these regimes. We solve for the contest equilibria and show that the multiple patent product involves an important hold-up problem that considerably reduces the overall contest effort.fragmented property rights; patents; contests; hold-up; R&D; patent pools; licensing

Contests with multi-tasking

The standard contest model in which participants compete in a single dimension is well understood and documented. Multi-dimension extensions are possible but are liable to increase the complexity of the contest structure, mitigating one of its main advantages: simplicity. In this paper we propose an extension in which competition ensues in several dimensions and a competitor that wins a certain number of these is awarded a prize. The amount of information needed to run the contest is hence limited to the number of dimensions won by each player. We look at the design of this contest from the point of view of maximizing effort in the contest (per dimension and totally), and show that there will be a tendency to run small contests with few dimensions. The standard Tullock model and its results are encompassed by our framework.contest design; multi-tasking; effort incentives

Foreclosure in contests

We consider a contest in which one firm is a favourite as it initially has a cost advantage over rivals. Instead of taking the set of rivals as given, we consider the possibility that the favourite transfers the source of its advantage wholly or partially to a subset of rival firms. The result of this may be foreclosure of those firms that do not receive the cost reduction. We present conditions under which this transfer will be expected to occur, and show that the dominant firm will prefer to grant some rivals the maximum cost reduction even if a partial transfer can be made. Furthermore we consider the welfare properties of excluding some rivals. Applications include lobbying, patent races and access to essential infrastructure.Foreclosure; contest

RENT SEEKING AND THE REGULATION OF A NATURAL RESOURCE

This article analyses rent-seeking behaviour among agents who compete for high future shares of a common natural resource. Rent-seeking behaviour occurs when the agents, based on earlier experience, expect that the distribution of the common natural resource in the future will be dependent on the agents' activities in the past. We show that allocation rules that make rent seeking individually rational, normally lead to scale inefficiency, input mix inefficiency, and fewer participants in the industry than lump-sum allocation rules.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Learning by doing in contests

We introduce learning by doing in a dynamic contest. Contestants compete in an early round and can use the experience gained to reduce effort cost in a subsequent contest. A contest designer can decide how much of the prize mass to distribute in the early contest and how much to leave for the later one in order to maximize total efforts. We show how this division affects effort at each stage, and present conditions that characterize the optimal split. The results are indicative of the fact that the designer weakly prefers to leave most of the prize mass for the second contest to reap the gains from the learning by doing effect

Rent-seeking and quota regulation of a renewable resource

The paper deals with rent-seeking behaviour among agents competing for future shares of a common renewable natural resource. Rent-seeking might become profitable when the agents expect that the distribution of the natural resource in future periods will be dependent on the agents' extraction of the resource in the past, even though high exploitation might reduce the stock that future individual quotas will be based upon. Whether aggressive rent-seeking behaviour by one agent will encourage other agents to rent-seek more, however, is generally found to be ambiguous

Motivating over time: Dynamic win effects in sequential contests

In this paper we look at motivation over time by setting up a dynamic contest model where winning the first contest yields an advantage in the second contest. The win advantage introduces an asymmetry into the competition that we find reduces the expected value to the contestants of being in the game, whilst it increases the efforts exerted. Hence it may seem that a win advantage is advantageous for an effort maximizing contest designer, whereas in expectation it will not be beneficial for the players. We also show that the principal should distribute a majority of the total prize mass to the second contest. With ex ante asymmetry, the effect of the win advantage on the effort in the second contest depends on how disadvantaged the laggard is. A large disadvantage at the outset implies that as the win advantage increases, total effort for the disadvantaged firm is reduced as the discouragement effect dominates the catching-up effect. If the inital disadvantage is not significant, then the catching-up effect dominates and the laggard increases its total effort

Decrease in natural marine hydrocarbon seepage near Coal Oil Point, California, associated with offshore oil production

Prolific natural hydrcarbon seepage occurs offshore of Coal Oil Point in the Santa Barbara Channel, California. Within the water column above submarine vents, plumes of hydrocarbon gas bubbles act as acoustic scattering targets. Using 3.5 kHz sonar data, seep distribution offshore of Coal Oil Point was mapped for August 1996, July 1995, and July 1973. Comparison of the seep distributions over time reveals more than 50% decrease in the areal extent of seepage, accompanied by declines in seep emission volume, in a 13 km2 area above a production oil reservoir. Declines in reservoir pressure and depletion of seep hydrocarbon sources associated with oil production are the mechanisms inferred to explain the declines in seep and emission volume

3D printing of tablets using inkjet with UV photoinitiation

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers significant potential benefits in the field of drug delivery and pharmaceutical/medical device manufacture. Of AM processes, 3D inkjet printing enables precise deposition of a formulation, whilst offering the potential for significant scale up or scale out as a manufacturing platform. This work hypothesizes that suitable solvent based ink formulations can be developed that allow the production of solid dosage forms that meet the standards required for pharmaceutical tablets, whilst offering a platform for flexible and personalised manufacture. We demonstrate this using piezo-activated inkjetting to 3D print ropinirole hydrochloride. The tablets produced consist of a cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol diacrylate) (PEGDA) hydrogel matrix containing the drug, photoinitiated in a low oxygen environment using an aqueous solution of Irgacure 2959. At a Ropinirole HCl loading of 0.41 mg, drug release from the tablet is shown to be Fickian. Raman and IR spectroscopy indicate a high degree of cross-linking and formation of an amorphous solid dispersion. This is the first publication of a UV inkjet 3D printed tablet. Consequently, this work opens the possibility for the translation of scalable, high precision and bespoke ink-jet based additive manufacturing to the pharmaceutical sector