Recent studies have challenged the view that trade openness leads to more specialization in countries’ trade. Using a panel of 116 countries over 35 years, we show that openness can be positively associated with both specialization and diversification, depending on the measure used. Moreover, for developing countries in our sample, the effect of openness on trade structure depends on the type o...

The protocols for member expansion in secret sharing schemes are very useful for key management in dynamic topology networks. In order to reduce the computation complexity of the existed protocols for member expansion in secret sharing schemes, a new protocol is proposed based on the problem of elliptic curve discrete logarithm. This paper examines fifteen most recent patens that were awarded i...

Patents A patent is the legal right of an inventor to exclude others from making or using a particular invention. This right is sometimes termed an 'intellectual property right' and is viewed as an encouragement for innovation. This article gives a brief history of patenting, and discusses the legal and administrative process for obtaining a patent in the major world jurisdictions. Evidence on ...

We develop a quality ladder model to study the R&D incentive impacts of intellectual property rights with a “research exemption” or “experimental use” provision. The innovation process is sequential and cumulative and takes place alongside production in an infinite-horizon setting. We solve the model under two distinct intellectual property regimes, characterize the properties of the relevant M...

When innovation is cumulative, early patentees can hold up later innovators. Under complete information, licensing before R&D avoids holdup. But when development costs are private information, ex ante licensing may only occur in regimes with sub-optimal patent policy.

An inevitable consequence of the growth of the “knowledge” or “information” economy is the increased importance of instruments designed to protect the property rights associated with these intangibles. Chief among the formal means of such protection is the patent, defined as the legal right of an inventor to exclude others from making or using a particular invention. This right is customarily l...

We propose a new, lightweight (t, n)−threshold secret sharing scheme that can be implemented using only XOR operations. Our scheme is based on an idea extracted from a patent application by Hewlett Packard that utilises error correction codes. Our scheme improves on the patent by requiring fewer randomly generated bits and by reducing the size of shares given to each player, thereby making the ...

We present a model of political networks that integrates both the choice of trade partners (the extensive margin) and trade volumes (the intensive margin). Our model predicts that regimes secure in their survival, including democracies and consolidated authoritarian regimes, will trade more on the extensive margin than vulnerable autocracies, which will block trade in products that would expand...

Crime rates have surged in nearly all new democracies. To explain this empirical regularity, we model the effects of political regimes on law enforcement and parametrize political regimes by their vulnerability to violent overthrow. It is assumed that democracies are less vulnerable than dictatorships. We first show that dictatorships generate more investment in “political protection” or secret...