IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/apeclt/v13y2006i13p829-834.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Uncertain innovation with uncertain product durability

Author

Listed:
  • Rajeev Goel

Abstract

This paper adds to two strands of the economics literature, the literature on product durability and on technical change, in a small way by introducing the possibility that an uncertain invention may be exogenously durable. Durability makes otherwise fully appropriable innovation porous. We consider a duopoly where firms maximize the present discounted rewards from innovation that might turn out to be a durable good or a non-durable good. Comparative-static results show that greater appropriability of rewards from the durable good innovation induces the firm to increase its profit-maximizing research spending. The effect of a change in the probability of the durable innovation is shown to depend on the degree of appropriability. The consideration of the effect of changes in the probability of durable innovation is unique to the literature. The effects of change in R&D competition are ambiguous and in line with earlier findings. Two special cases are considered and policy implications discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajeev Goel, 2006. "Uncertain innovation with uncertain product durability," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(13), pages 829-834.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:13:y:2006:i:13:p:829-834
    DOI: 10.1080/13504850500425154
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&doi=10.1080/13504850500425154&magic=repec&7C&7C8674ECAB8BB840C6AD35DC6213A474B5
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13504850500425154?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bhatt, Swati, 1989. "Demand uncertainty in a durable goods monopoly," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 341-355.
    2. David Levine, 1982. "A Simple Durable Goods Market," UCLA Economics Working Papers 275, UCLA Department of Economics.
    3. Glenn C. Loury, 1979. "Market Structure and Innovation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(3), pages 395-410.
    4. David Levine, 1985. "A Simple Durable Goods Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(3), pages 775-788.
    5. Rajeev K. Goel & Edward W. T. Hsieh, 2004. "Durable Emissions and Optimal Pigouvian Taxes," Public Finance Review, , vol. 32(4), pages 441-449, July.
    6. repec:bla:scandj:v:94:y:1992:i:0:p:s29-47 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Reinganum, Jennifer F., 1989. "The timing of innovation: Research, development, and diffusion," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 14, pages 849-908, Elsevier.
    8. Gregory E. Goering, 2000. "Durable Goods Monopoly, Buyer Uncertainty, and Concurrent Selling and Renting," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 413-434, November.
    9. Tom Lee & Louis L. Wilde, 1980. "Market Structure and Innovation: A Reformulation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 94(2), pages 429-436.
    10. Haucap, Justus & Kirstein, Roland, 2003. "Government Incentives When Pollution Permits Are Durable Goods," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 115(1-2), pages 163-183, April.
    11. Kamien,Morton I. & Schwartz,Nancy L., 1982. "Market Structure and Innovation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521293853, December.
    12. Jeremy Bulow, 1986. "An Economic Theory of Planned Obsolescence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 729-749.
    13. Coase, Ronald H, 1972. "Durability and Monopoly," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 143-149, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bowon Kim & Fouad El Ouardighi & Sangsun Park, 2012. "Optimal dynamics of technology and price in a duopoly market," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(11), pages 1017-1022, July.
    2. Peter Byrial Jensen & Louise Møller Haase & Linda Nhu Laursen, 2021. "A Practical Approach to Companies’ Transformation toward Product Longevity: A Best-Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Dirk Dohse & Rajeev K. Goel & James W. Saunoris, 2023. "Patenting uncertainty and its impact on innovation: evidence from the United States," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 1839-1859, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gilbert Richard J, 2006. "Competition and Innovation," Journal of Industrial Organization Education, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 1-23, December.
    2. Levin, Mark (Левин, Марк) & Matrosova, Kseniya (Матросова, Ксения), 2017. "Development and Analysis of Economic Models of Innovation Incentives [Разработка И Исследование Экономических Моделей Стимулирования Инновационных Процессов]," Working Papers 061713, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    3. Isabelle Brocas, 2003. "Les enjeux de la réglementation de la recherche et développement," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 113(1), pages 125-148.
    4. By Kenneth L. Judd & Karl Schmedders & Şevin Yeltekin, 2012. "Optimal Rules For Patent Races," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 53(1), pages 23-52, February.
    5. Rajeev Goel, 2007. "Research spending under regulatory uncertainty," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 32(6), pages 593-604, December.
    6. Raymond De Bondt & Jan Vandekerckhove, 2012. "Reflections on the Relation Between Competition and Innovation," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 7-19, March.
    7. Sen, Debapriya & Tauman, Yair, 2007. "General licensing schemes for a cost-reducing innovation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 163-186, April.
    8. Gilbert, Richard J. & Katz, Michael L., 2011. "Efficient division of profits from complementary innovations," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 443-454, July.
    9. Pasquale Schiraldi, 2006. "Second-Hand Markets and Collusion by Manufacturers of Semidurable Goods," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2006-028, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    10. Matros, Alexander & Smirnov, Vladimir, 2016. "Duplicative search," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-22.
    11. Hinloopen, J. & Smrkolj, G. & Wagener, F.O.O., 2013. "In Defense of Trusts: R&D Cooperation in Global Perspective," CeNDEF Working Papers 13-05, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Center for Nonlinear Dynamics in Economics and Finance.
    12. Jeroen Hinloopen & Grega Smrkolj & Florian Wagener, 2016. "R&D Cooperatives and Market Collusion: A Global Dynamic Approach," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 16-048/II, Tinbergen Institute.
    13. Julio R. Robledo, 2005. "The Effect of Litigation on Intellectual Property and Welfare," Vienna Economics Papers 0511, University of Vienna, Department of Economics.
    14. Leibowicz, Benjamin D., 2018. "Welfare improvement windows for innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 390-398.
    15. Harabi, Najib, 1994. "Technischer Fortschritt in der Schweiz: Empirische Ergebnisse aus industrieökonomischer Sicht [Technischer Fortschritt in der Schweiz:Empirische Ergebnisse aus industrieökonomischer Sicht]," MPRA Paper 6725, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Kinokuni, Hiroshi & Ohori, Shuichi & Tomoda, Yasunobu, 2021. "Advance disposal fee vs. disposal fee: A monopolistic producer’s durability choice model," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    17. Helen Weeds, 2002. "Strategic Delay in a Real Options Model of R&D Competition," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(3), pages 729-747.
    18. Jensen, Richard & Showalter, Dean, 2004. "Strategic debt and patent races," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(7), pages 887-915, September.
    19. Denicolò, Vincenzo & Halmenschlager, Christine, 2012. "Optimal patentability requirements with complementary innovations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 190-204.
    20. Rajeev K. Goel & Michael A. Nelson, 2021. "How do firms use innovations to hedge against economic and political uncertainty? Evidence from a large sample of nations," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 407-430, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:13:y:2006:i:13:p:829-834. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEL20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.