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Project Citation: 

Watzinger, Martin, Fackler, Thomas , Nagler, Markus , and Schnitzer, Monika. Data and Code for: How Antitrust Enforcement Can Spur Innovation: Bell Labs and the 1956 Consent Decree. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2020. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-10-26. https://doi.org/10.3886/E115806V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary This is the data used for our article "How Antitrust Enforcement Can Spur Innovation: Bell Labs and the 1956 Consent Decree".

Abstract: Is compulsory licensing an effective antitrust remedy to increase innovation? To answer this question, we analyze the 1956 consent decree which settled an antitrust lawsuit against Bell, a vertically integrated monopolist charged with foreclosing the telecommunications equipment market. Bell was forced to license all its existing patents royalty-free, including those not related to telecommunications. We identify the effect of the consent decree on follow-on innovations building on Bell patents by using exactly matched non-Bell patents as control group. We show that the consent decree led to a lasting increase in innovation, but only in markets outside the telecommunications sector.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources DFG German Science Foundation (CRC190); Elite Network of Bavaria (Evidence-Based Economics); German Academic Exchange Service

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Innovation; Antitrust; intellectual property; Compulsory licensing
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      K21 Antitrust Law
      L40 Antitrust Issues and Policies: General
      O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
      O34 Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States
Universe:  View help for Universe Registered Patents at the USPTO
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; aggregate data


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