Institutionalized Incentives for Ingenuity – Patent Value and the German Employees’ Inventions Act

Harhoff, Dietmar and Hoisl, Karin (2006): Institutionalized Incentives for Ingenuity – Patent Value and the German Employees’ Inventions Act. Discussion Papers in Business Administration 2006-12

Abstract

Germany is one of few countries in which the monetary compensation for inventors is not only determined by negotiations between employer and employee-inventor, but also by relatively precise legal provisions. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of the German Employees’ Inventions Act (GEIA) and discuss which incentives it creates. We rely on responses from a recent survey of 3,350 German inventors to test hypotheses regarding this institution. We conclude from our data that the law creates substantial monetary rewards for productive inventors. The qualitative responses from our survey confirm this view, but also point to a number of dysfunctional effects.

• Item Type: Paper
• Keywords: Employee-Inventor; Inventor Compensation; Patent Value; Productivity
• Faculties: Munich School of Management; Munich School of Management > Discussion Papers; Munich School of Management > Discussion Papers > Innovation Research
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology; 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• JEL Classification: O34, O32, J63, M54
• Language: English