Research

Working Papers (Available on Request)

Challenges facing independent inventors: Do patents help? Co-authored with N. Pairolero, A. Toole, P.A. Pappas, and M. Teodorescu (Revise and resubmit at Management Science - FNEGE 1*; FT Top 50)

Abstract: We present results from the first ever randomized control trial on independent inventors at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This experiment, called the Pro Se Pilot, led to an 8 percentage point increase in the likelihood of receiving a patent. We exploit the random assignment of treatment to identify causal impacts of receiving a patent on short term independent inventor outcomes. Our results suggest that patenting is key to inventive, innovative, and entrepreneurial activity. We find large effect sizes of patenting on reducing financial frictions, participating in markets for technology (18.7 pp), and signaling inventor value to established firms (24.8 pp).

• • • This paper won the 'Best Paper' award for the TIM division at AOM 2022.

    • This paper was designated as a 'Best Paper' for the TIM division at AOM 2022.

     The contribution of startups, venture finance, and patenting to innovation in U.S. agriculture Co-authored with G. Graff and N. Rada (Revise and Resubmit at the American Journal of Agricultural Economics) 

• • • Working paper available on SSRN.

The Green Technology Pilot Program: Opportunities for Firms in a Green Economy Co-authored with Mike Teodorescu

Foreign technological entry, intellectual property rights, and technology diffusion: Evidence from patenting filings at the USPTO Co-authored with H. Ju and P. Herman (Under Review)

• Working paper available through the USITC's Economic Working Paper Series: 2024-10-a_foreign_entry_ipr_and_tech_diffusion_0.pdf (usitc.gov) 

Peer-reviewed Publications

• Patent Claims and Patent Scope (with A. Marco and J. Sarnoff). Research Policy (V48:9, November 2019). FNEGE 1*; FT Top 50

• Innovation Activities and Business Cycles: Are Trademarks a Leading Indicator? (with A. Myers and A. Toole) - Industry and Innovation (V27:1-2, 2020). ABS 2

• Embracing Invention Similarity for the Measurement of Vertically Overlapping Claims (with J. Frumkin and N. Pairolero). Economics of Innovation and New Technology (V29:2, 2020). ABS 3

• Examination Incentives, Learning, and Patent Office Outcomes: The Use of Examiner's Amendments at the USPTO (with N. Pairolero and M. Teodorescu). Research Policy (V50:10, December 2021). FNEGE 1*; FT Top 50

• Reproducibility in Management Science. (with M. Fišar, B. Greiner, C. Huber, E. Katok, A. Ozkes, and the Management Science Reproducibility Collaboration). Management Science, 2023. Note: Member of the Management Science Reproducibility Collaboration.

• Procrastination or incomplete data? An analysis of USPTO examiner search activity (with A. Giczy and N. Pairolero). Research Policy (V53:7, September 2024). FNEGE 1*; FT Top 50

• Closing the gender gap in patenting: Evidence from a randomized control trial at the USPTO (with N. Pairolero, A. Toole, P.A. Pappas, and M. Teodorescu). American Economic Journal: Economic Policy (2025). FNEGE 1

Policy Reports & Technical Documentation

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2022. “USPTO pilot program reduced gender disparities in patenting,” Economic Note, No. 102, Office of the Chief Economist, November 2022. https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/oce-ip-econ-note-102.pdf.

• Technical Documentation for Matching Patents and Trademarks to the 2017 National Establishment Time Series Database (with Ryan Hughes and Julian Kolev). OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST Economic Working Paper Series. USPTO Economic Working Paper No. 2021-4. September 2021. https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/oce-wp-ip-to-nets.pdf. 

• Progress and Potential: 2020 update on U.S. women inventor-patentees  (with Andrew Toole, Michelle Saksena, and others). OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST IP DATA HIGHLIGHTS Number 4, July 2020. https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ip-policy/economic-research/progress-potential.

• Progress and Potential: A profile of women inventors on U.S. patents (with Andrew Toole, Amanda Myers, and others). OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST IP DATA HIGHLIGHTS Number 2, February 2019. https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ip-policy/economic-research/progress-potential.

Work in Progress and Older Projects

• Incentives and Performance at the U.S. Patent Office (with D. Hegde and A. Marco)

• Hold-up, Patent Thickets and R&D (with Jesse Frumkin and Nicholas Pairolero)

• Creative Destruction and Strategic Protection: Evidence from Pharmaceutical Patenting (with A. Marco)

• Patent Validity and Follow-on Patenting: Evidence From Ex Parte Reexamination at the USPTO

• Initial patent rights and strategic continuations (early stage)

• The effect of patent rights on small business innovation research grants (early stage)

• Natural disasters and innovative activity: evidence from patenting filings at the USPTO (early stage)