Intellectual property rights have become increasingly important for our modern economies in recent years. Although the entire patent system has a profound effect on the decision of firms of whether to conduct research and at which volume, patent law is the heart of the entire patent system. Therefore, this book focuses on the economic effects of certain provisions in patent law by using economic models dedicated to patent policy. The first part of the book presents a brief overview over the history of patent systems and introduces the main components of modern patent systems. A short introduction of the principal provisions of US patent law constitutes the centre of the subsequent analysis as it serves as a link between law and economics. The second part presents core economic models for central provisions, collecting the most fundamental results in a national framework in the field of literature. Part three is concerned with selected provisions of patent law in an international framework. It provides valuable insights into the situation of developing countries which are the chief recipients of technology transfers. Patent Policy will be of interest to researchers interested in the field of modelling patent policy. It can be also used as supplementary text in courses in Industrial Organization, Innovation Economics and Law and Economics.

Intellectual property rights have become increasingly important for our modern economies in recent years. Although the entire patent system has a profound effect on the decision of firms of whether to conduct research and at which volume, patent law is the heart of the entire patent system. Therefore, this book focuses on the economic effects of certain provisions in patent law by using economic models dedicated to patent policy.

The first part of the book presents a brief overview over the history of patent systems and introduces the main components of modern patent systems. A short introduction of the principal provisions of US patent law constitutes the centre of the subsequent analysis as it serves as a link between law and economics. The second part presents core economic models for central provisions, collecting the most fundamental results in a national framework in the field of literature. Part three is concerned with selected provisions of patent law in an international framework. It provides valuable insights into the situation of developing countries which are the chief recipients of technology transfers.

Patent Policy will be of interest to researchers interested in the field of modelling patent policy. It can be also used as supplementary text in courses in Industrial Organization, Innovation Economics and Law and Economics.

Globalisation is normally associated with expanded international trade in goods and services. In view ofhigh and persistent unemploymentin European countries during the last two decades opponents of globali- sation argue that increased import competition, particularly from low- wage countries,influences the domestic labour markets adversely. How- ever, the advocates of open markets stress that this is a misconception about the impact offoreign trade;their view is that the employment ef- fects depend to a large extent on the degree offlexibility ofthe domestic labour markets. This debate has induced Pia WeiB to examine the unemployment prob- lem in an open economy within a rigorously theoretical framework. The focus is on the mismatch between labour demand andlabour supply. For that purpose, new modelsin labour economics concerningthe searchand matching theory are used. It is shown that an increased competition on the world goods markets leads to an increase inthe industrialised coun- try's unemployment rate only ifthe wages are not fully flexible. At the same time, it is demonstrated that changes on the world markets may help to explain the observed development ofthe unemployment vacancy ratio. The study provides valuable insights which might enrich the subjects taught at undergraduate courses. Scholars interested in the interaction of foreign trade and employment may find in the study suggestions for future research. The research forthis studyhasbeenundertakenatthe Institutfur Wirt- VIII Preface schaftspolitik (Institute of Political Economy), University of Cologne.