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Patents and corporate credit risk

Author

Listed:
  • Carl Benedikt Frey
  • Peter Neuhäusler
  • Knut Blind

Abstract

A vast literature documents a positive relationship between patents and companies stock market performance. Nevertheless, evidence on the influence of patents on companies’ debt capacity remains sparse. In this article, we examine the relationship between companies’ patent portfolios and their credit rating, providing relevant, albeit indirect, evidence on patents as a debt funding mechanism. Using a panel dataset on 155 U.S. firms, we find a positive relationship between companies’ credit rating and the size of their patent portfolio. Our indicators for valuable patents, however, provide a mixed picture. While there is a positive link between the average family size of a company’s patent portfolio and its credit ratings, we surprisingly find a significant negative relationship between patent forward citations and companies ratings. We hypothesize that this finding is the result of citations being associated with patent lawsuits, potentially incurring substantial losses on creditors.

Suggested Citation

  • Carl Benedikt Frey & Peter Neuhäusler & Knut Blind, 2020. "Patents and corporate credit risk," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(2), pages 289-308.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:29:y:2020:i:2:p:289-308.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/icc/dtz040
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gutiérrez-López, Cristina & Castro, Paula & Tascón, María T., 2022. "How can firms' transition to a low-carbon economy affect the distance to default?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Jiang, Cuiqing & Zhou, Yiru & Chen, Bo, 2023. "Mining semantic features in patent text for financial distress prediction," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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