“There is a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ Hall and Helmers’ masterful textbook. Up to now, a reader interested both in the economic impacts of innovation and in the role and design of patent systems would have no synthetic text to rely upon. This book does a beautiful job at filling this gap. With great pedagogy, the authors bring the reader to the knowledge frontier on both the macroeconomic impacts and the microeconomic underpinnings of innovation. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in innovation, growth, and intellectual property.”
Philippe Aghion, College de France and INSEAD
“Hall and Helmers have produced an extraordinarily comprehensive, rigorous, and deeply thoughtful volume. This impressive text now makes the learning of more than six decades of theoretical and empirical economics in this important subfield readily available to advanced undergraduate and graduate economics students interested in innovation and technological change.”
Wesley Cohen, Duke University
"This is an outstanding textbook on innovation and IP, and it is comprehensive and precise, offering a broad range of options for educators. It includes many insights on institutions outside of the US – something the literature often lacks. Large parts will also be accessible for engineering and science audiences. This book will become an indispensable resource for scholars and students of innovation and for a larger audience of policy-makers and practitioners interested in this important topic."
Dietmar Harhoff, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
"The Economics of Innovation and Intellectual Property" by Christian Helmers and Bronwyn Hall is a much-needed textbook that equips students with a deep understanding of the complex policy trade-offs in intellectual property. Clear and accessible, it provides the knowledge needed to navigate IP’s role in innovation across sectors like AI, software, and pharmaceuticals. Hall and Helmers have created an indispensable guide that will shape the next generation of scholars and policymakers in the field."
Carsten Fink, Chief Economist, World Intellectual Property Organization