A Note on Patents and Leniency

• Authors: Adam Karbowski

Title variants

PL

Szkic o patentach i łagodzeniu kar

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The purpose of this note is to investigate the relationship between patents and market collusion. Specifically, by using game theory tools, it is shown that patents can act as a leniency mechanism, i.e., they can enable firms to leave a cartel without the risk of retaliation. However, the socially beneficial role of patents is limited because the Bertrand competition itself breaks the collusion via the existence of a prisoner’s dilemma between sufficiently myopic market rivals. In the prisoner’s dilemma, two social tensions, fear and greed, make firms deviate from collusion. Patenting breaks the collusion, but at the social cost of a temporary patent monopoly in the product market.

PL

Celem niniejszego szkicu jest zbadanie zależności pomiędzy patentami a zmową rynkową. W szczególności, poprzez zastosowanie narzędzi teorii gier, pokazano, że patenty mogą funkcjonować jako mechanizm łagodzenia kar, tj. patenty umożliwiają przedsiębiorstwom opuszczenie kartelu bez ryzyka działań odwetowych ze strony rynkowych rywali. Społecznie korzystna rola patentów jest jednak ograniczona, ponieważ sama konkurencja w rozumieniu Bertranda rozbija zmowę rynkową poprzez istnienie dylematu więźnia pomiędzy krótkowzrocznymi rywalami. W tym dylemacie dwa napięcia społeczne, strach i chciwość, sprawiają, że przedsiębiorstwa odstępują od rynkowej zmowy. Patentowanie także rozbija zmowę, ale społecznym kosztem powstania czasowego monopolu na rynku produktu spowodowanego ochroną patentową.

Keywords

EN

patents; leniency; collusion; prisoner's dilemma

PL

patenty; łagodzenie kar; zmowa; dylemat więźnia

• Publisher: Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie. Kolegium Analiz Ekonomicznych
• Journal: Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 301
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 97-108

Dates

published

2020-03-31

received

2019-08-13

revised

2019-11-01

accepted

2020-01-15

Contributors

author

Adam Karbowski

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Identifiers

DOI

10.33119/GN/116615