Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/283372 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
Economics Working Paper Series No. 23/385
Publisher: 
ETH Zurich, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research, Zurich
Abstract: 
We analyze the use of patent protection as a new policy to direct technical change to clean technology. Contrary to popular belief, it is dirty (and not clean) innovations that should be excluded from patent protection to reduce emissions. In the shortrun, removing patent protection on dirty technology increases emissions. However, the reduced markup on dirty technology can induce clean innovation, reducing emissions in the long-run. We use a general equilibrium model to show both analytically and numerically that removing patent protection on dirty technology can indeed promote the energy transition and reduce the cost of mitigating climate change.
Subjects: 
Patent protection
directed technical change
climate policy
JEL: 
H23
O33
O34
Q54
Q55
Q58
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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