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Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Evidence-based Knowledge Synthesis and Hypothesis Validation: Navigating Biomedical Knowledge Bases via Explainable AI and Agentic Systems
Published on: June 13, 2025
PATENTS AND RESEARCH INVESTMENTS: ASSESSING THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
Eric Budish1, Benjamin N Roin2, Heidi L Williams3
1Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, 5807 South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 and NBER, eric.budish@chicagobooth.edu.
Abstract:
A well-developed theoretical literature - dating back at least to Nordhaus (1969) - has analyzed optimal patent policy design. We re-present the core trade-off of the Nordhaus model and highlight an empirical question which emerges from the Nordhaus framework as a key input into optimal patent policy design: namely, what is the elasticity of R&D investment with respect to the patent term? We then review the - surprisingly small - body of empirical evidence that has been developed on this question over the nearly half century since the publication of Nordhaus's book.
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