Impacts of the Japanese patent system on productivity growth

We investigate empirically how the Japanese patent system has affected post -war growth in Japanese total factor productivity. The system has been crit icized for several. reasons, including that it encourages numerous filings of narrow claims that build incrementally on fundamental technologies devel oped by domestic and foreign inventors. Stated in different terms, the syst em was designed to promote technological catch-up and diffusion through inc remental innovation. However, its: effectiveness in achieving this purpose has not been studied systematically. We provide econometric evidence that t he technology diffused through the Japanese patent system had a significant and positive impact on Japan's technical progress. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: F13; O31; O34.