Paul H Jensen

• PhD
• Professor at University of Melbourne

As a country with an abundance of renewable resources, Australia has an opportunity to emerge as a global leader in the production of green iron rather than simply extracting and exporting iron ore around the world. While it makes sense to do so in the changing geopolitical environment, and to assist in achieving our commitments to dramatically red...

For most of the last 15 years, Australia policy on climate change has been decidedly underwhelming, leaving us behind where we need to be to fulfil our obligations under the Paris Accord. But there are encouraging signs at present that there is an emerging consensus—amongst captains of industry, different levels of government, policy‐makers and eve...

The patent system underpins the business model of some of the fastest‐growing companies. Used appropriately, it should support frontier technologies and nurture new firms. Used perniciously, it can stifle innovation and protect established technological behemoths. We analyze patent examination decisions at the American, European, Japanese, Korean,...

Studies show that founders’ industry-specific experience is beneficial to venture performance. However, we know little on the contingencies associated with such an effect. Using a panel dataset of 338 Italian high-tech ventures, we find that founders’ industry-specific experience positively affects venture performance. However, changes in the top m...

We use scientist-level panel data in order to estimate the effect which the number, type and source of research grants has on subsequent commercial contracts, publications and patent outputs. In so doing, we control for time-invariant factors including individual researcher preferences, the nature of the work and the business model of the researche...

This paper tests the presence of an ‘entrepreneurial imprinting effect’ of founders’ human capital on entrepreneurial ventures’ performance. More specifically, we empirically explore the impact of entrepreneurs’ human capital on a firm’s sales growth performance by disentangling the effect of the stock of human capital possessed at foundation from...

One of the principles enshrined in all international patent treaties is that equal treatment should be provided to inventors regardless of their nationality. Little is known about whether this “national treatment” principle is upheld in practice. We analyze whether patent examination outcomes at the European and Japanese patent offices vary systema...

Although immigration debates in the popular press sometimes focus on the perceived negative aspects, immigrants may actually stimulate innovation, thereby promoting job creation and enhancing productivity. Although there is an emerging international literature on the impact of migration on innovation, Australian studies are limited. Given the impor...

In this article, I outline the reasons why the choice of PhD research topic has important and persistent effects on an economist's career. Although the issues raised in this article are most acute for those wishing to pursue a career in academia, there are also implications for those working outside academia. While there are many factors that deter...

Survey data from over 3,000 academic scientists show that nearly half of these scientists report that their choice of research projects has been affected (to some degree) by the presence of third-party patents. Our evidence suggests that the operation of this patent-induced effect is through (i) restrictions patent owners place on the timing of fol...

Conditional on the decision to enter the market for immature technology, we test for the effects that trust – as proxied by the context in which the negotiating parties met – has on the likelihood that these negotiations are successful. Using a randomised dataset of 860 university-firm and firm-firm technology transactions, we find that the depth o...

This paper tests the presence of an ‘entrepreneurial imprinting effect’ of founders’ human capital on entrepreneurial ventures’ performance. More specifically, we empirically explore the impact of entrepreneurs’ human capital on a firm’s sales growth performance by disentangling the effect of the stock of human capital possessed at foundation from...

Asia has emerged as an industrial powerhouse. Australia has a once‐in‐a‐generation opportunity to position itself at the vanguard of a significant change in the global economic architecture. In this article, we examine the dynamics of Australian–Asian relations using a unique multi‐indicator index of ‘engagement’ which incorporates components of tr...

Patents are intended to attenuate under-investment in invention by granting innovators a monopoly right over their technology for a flnite period. However, empirical evidence suggests that the incremental private return facilitated by a patent (the \patent pre- mium") may only be positive in a few industries (see Arora et al. 2008). This paper prop...

In this paper, we re-examine the debate regarding the determinants of persistent abnormal profits. Abnormal profits are estimated using data on tangible and intangible capital for 2689 Australian firms over a 17-year period. The determinants of abnormal profits are then estimated using variables collated from accounting and survey data on innovatio...

This paper estimates the effect of a patent grant on the likelihood that an invention will progress to different commercialization stages, using survey data on 3,162 inventions that were the subject of a patent application. We find that about 40 percent of all inventions advanced to the point of market launch and mass production. Although a patent...

We use data from 3000 academic scientists to estimate the effects of other parties’ patents on the academics’ research. Nearly half of all scientists report that their choice of research projects has been affected by the presence of other parties’ patents. We find that transaction costs and the culture of the workplace have the largest influence ov...

Existing empirical evidence suggests that public subsidies and fiscal incentives have a positive effect on the amount of private R&D expenditure. However, most studies have failed to address the possibility at least some of this increase may simply reflect the fact that R&D workers are being paid higher wages. Such an omission may imply that past r...

Although many companies compete through the development of new technologies and products, it is well known that innovation is inherently risky and therefore may increase the ex ante likelihood of both exceptional company performance and bankruptcy. However, existing empirical studies consistently find a positive relationship between innovative acti...

In this paper, we focus on the effects of macroeconomic conditions on commercialisation. Using survey data on the activities of Australian inventors who attempted to commercialise 3,736 inventions over the period 1986–2005, we find evidence that macroeconomic conditions have a pro-cyclical effect on commercialisation activities. Such a finding has...

In this paper, we estimate the extent of misclassification in patent examination decisions between the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Japanese Patent Office (JPO), that is, applications that are incorrectly refused a patent or incorrectly granted a patent. Using a proxy for inventive step as the predictor of the correct decision, we find that...

This paper investigates whether there are differences in patient outcomes across different types of hospitals using patient-level data on readmission and mortality associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Hospitals are grouped according to their ownership type (private, public teaching, public non-teaching) and their location (metropolita...

An incentive program for general practitioners to encourage systematic and igh-quality care in chronic disease management was introduced in Australia in 1999. There is little empirical evidence and ambiguous theoretical guidance on which effects to expect. This paper evaluates the impact of the incentive program on quality of care in diabetes, as m...

Shortcomings in the treatment of intangible investment in company accounts imply that there is no statistical collection for innovative activity which abides by the logic used for other economic activity data. As a consequence, analysts rely on innovation proxies derived from administrative and survey data. However, it is still unclear exactly how...

Economists and strategic management theorists interested in sustained competitive advantage often examine firms’ management of knowledge. Somewhat surprisingly, the interaction between knowledge creation and knowledge capture practices has received little attention. Using survey data from nearly 900 Australian firms we examine this issue, paying pa...

Abstract More than half a billion dollars are spent each year on the maintenance of Australia's urban water and sewerage networks. Expenditure is governed through a mix of in-house and outsourced maintenance service contracts. We re-examine issues relating to the relationship between the cost of maintenance service provision and the type of contrac...

Innovation policy is increasingly informed from the perspective of a national innovation system (NIS), but, despite the fact that research findings emphasize the importance of national differences in the framing conditions for innovation, policy prescriptions tend to be uniform. Justifications for innovation policy by organizations such as the OECD...

One component of the duration of pending patents - why applicants choose to delay the examination process - is modelled. We use a matched sample of 9597 patent applications to examine this issue. Controlling for differences between patent offices, we find evidence that applicants create investment uncertainty by delaying decisions to request patent...

High neonatal mortality is one of the most salient 'facts' about firm performance in the industrial organisation literature. We model firm survival and examine the relative influence of firm, industry and macroeconomic factors on survival for new vis-à-vis incumbent firms in Australia. In particular, we focus on how the intensity of innovation in e...

Australia introduced an incentive payment scheme for general practitioners to ensure systematic and high quality care in chronic disease management. There is little empirical evidence and ambiguous theoretical guidance on which effects to expect on the quality of care. This paper evaluates the impact of the payment incentives on quality of care in...

This paper examines whether labelling characteristics affect short-run demand for manufactured foods in Australia. We estimate the effect of common labelling characteristics on demand using data from 92 brands in 12 product categories from major supermarket stores across Australia over the period 2002 to 2005. We find that certain characteristics -...

Since little is known about the degree of bias in estimated fixed effects in panel data models, we run Monte Carlo simulations on a range of different estimators. We find that Anderson-Hsiao IV, Kiviet’s bias-corrected LSDV and GMM estimators all perform well in both short and long panels. However, OLS outperforms the other estimators when the foll...

Australian and New Zealand environmental economists have played a significant role in the development of concepts and their application across three fields within their subdiscipline: non-market valuation, institutional economics and bioeconomic modelling. These contributions have been spurred on by debates within and outside the discipline. Much o...

This paper investigates whether there are differences in patient outcomes across different types of hospitals using patient-level data on re-admission and mortality associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Hospitals are grouped according to their ownership status (private, teaching, non-teaching) and their location (metropolitan, country...

Australian and New Zealand environmental economists have played a significant role in the development of concepts and their application across three fields within their subdiscipline: non-market valuation, institutional economics and bioeconomic modelling. These contributions have been spurred on by debates within and outside the discipline. Much o...

The effectiveness of trade mark protection depends on the enforceability of rights. However, little is known about how trade mark owners actually go about enforcing their trade marks in the civil courts. The few studies which have emerged recently show a high success rate for trade mark owners. In this study, we created a database of all trade mark...

One component of the duration of pending patents – why applicants choose to delay the examination process – is modelled. We use a matched sample of 9,597 patent applications. Controlling for differences between patent offices, we find evidence of strategic behaviour by applicants.

While many firms compete through the development of new technologies and products, it is well known that new-to-the-world innovation is inherently risky and therefore may increase the probability of firm death. However, many existing studies consistently find a negative association between innovative activity and firm death. We argue that this may...

This Working Paper reviews issues related to research access to patented inventions, with a particular focus on the role of research exemptions (or experimental use exemptions) in protecting such access. It outlines factors that may affect the ability of researchers to access patented inventions for legitimate research purposes, it reviews evidence...

In this paper, the management of outgoing and incoming knowledge is modelled as part of the firm’s profit-seeking strategy. Firms stem their outflow of commercially-sensitive knowledge through appropriation mechanisms such as patents and secrecy and stimulate inflows of commercially-valuable knowledge through networking, attending conferences and o...

Innovation markets are often characterised by market failure because inventions typically incur high fixed costs relative to marginal costs and their intellectual capital is non-excludable. Intellectual property (IP) rights may attenuate this problem by providing legal recourse for firms to stop imitation by rivals. As IP rights are costly to acqui...

This paper examines the effects of market power and product differentiation on demand for grocery products in Australia over the period 2002 to 2005. We construct a model of the relationship between demand, market power and brand characteristics and then estimate the model using monthly data on price, quantity and volume sold for a bundle of 92 bra...

As the amount of tangible matter in the world is fixed, the growth and deployment of intangible capital in the production process must be the sole source of productivity growth and thus our ability to enhance the (material) quality of life. This survey paper takes stock of our knowledge about enterprise investment in intangible capital, most partic...

Patents are growing in importance. Patenting rates worldwide have increased significantly in recent years: between 1992 and 2002, the number of patent applications in Europe, Japan and the US increased by more than 40 per cent. Patent coverage has also been extended to include new kinds of inventions, like genetic technologies, software, and busine...

Outsourcing the provision of traditionally publicly provided services has become commonplace in most industrialized nations. Despite its prevalence, there still is no consensus in the academic literature on the magnitude (and determinants) of expected cost savings to the government, nor the sources of those savings. This article considers the argum...

Previous studies in organizational economics and international business research have not tested a property rights view on the allocation of decision rights (DR) in joint ventures (JVs). The paper offers a test of the property rights explanation by using data from Hungarian JVs. Our analysis derives the following hypothesis: The more important the...

Australian and New Zealand environmental economists have played a significant role in the development of concepts and their application across three fields within their subdiscipline: non-market valuation, institutional economics and bioeconomic modelling. These contributions have been spurred on by debates within and outside the discipline. Much o...

Australian and New Zealand environmental economists have played a significant role in the development of concepts and their application across three fields within their subdiscipline: non-market valuation, institutional economics and bioeconomic modelling. These contributions have been spurred on by debates within and outside the discipline. Much o...

Australian and New Zealand environmental economists have played a significant role in the development of concepts and their application across three fields within their subdiscipline: non-market valuation, institutional economics and bioeconomic modelling. These contributions have been spurred on by debates within and outside the discipline. Much o...

Australian and New Zealand environmental economists have played a significant role in the development of concepts and their application across three fields within their subdiscipline: non-market valuation, institutional economics and bioeconomic modelling. These contributions have been spurred on by debates within and outside the discipline. Much o...

In this paper, we identify three policy instruments governments have at their disposal to affect the power of patent rights to prevent imitation: the size of the inventive step used to make the patent granting decision, the rigour of the patent examination process and the predisposition of the courts to affirm the patent office’s decision. We devel...

Outsourcing the provision of traditionally publicly-provided services has become commonplace in most industrialized nations. Despite its prevalence, there still is no consensus in the academic literature on the magnitude (and determinants) of expected cost savings to the government, nor the sources of those savings. After articulating the differenc...

There is a common, largely anecdotally based belief that registered intellectual property is a less efficient form of protection for SME inventors compared with inventors from large firms. This paper discusses the reasons why SMEs may be disadvantaged in their use of intellectual property as opposed to more general disadvantages they may incur over...

A challenge for applied studies of innovation is to find quality-adjusted and unbiased measures for the extent and type of innovative activity in firms. This paper considers, in the light of the uses for these measures, how well we expect these common indicators quantify innovative services and how well they actually correlate using data from a sam...

Over the past quarter of a century, trade mark applications have grown by 2.3 per cent per annum faster than real GDP in Australia. This paper explores the factors associated with this growth. We find some evidence that over the past two decades, trademarking has been associated with more inventive companies, the growth of the service sector, globa...

This article analyzes the impact of outsourcing on the cost of maintenance and warehousing services in the New Zealand Army. Using a present-value framework, a costing methodology is developed that accounts for production costs, one-off costs (such as redundancy payments), and ongoing transaction costs associated with the outsourcing exercise. The...

Unlike privatization, contracting out (or simply 'contracting') does not generally involve the sale of publicly owned assets. Yet it has been widely used as a mechanism for reform of public-sector service provision. Contracting introduces ex-ante competition-competition for the market through competitive tendering. This article examines both the th...

China is both the world's largest producer and consumer of wheat. In an attempt to gain a larger slice of the important Chinese market, both the European Community and the United States have offered China subsidised wheat. In addition, other exporters have offered attractive credit arrangements to China. The objective of this paper is to measure th...

China is both the world's largest producer and consumer of wheat. In an attempt to gain a larger slice of the important Chinese market, both the European Community and the United States have offered China subsidised wheat. In addition, other exporters have offered attractive credit arrangements to China. The objective of this paper is to measure th...

As a signatory of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), Australia is permitted to impose duties on goods that have been imported below 'normal value' and have caused or threatened to cause 'material injury' to the domestic industry producing 'like goods'. There has been a recent push from various industries to increase protection for p...

In this paper, we estimate the number of misclassified patent applications at the EPO and JPO - that is, applications that are incorrectly refused a patent (Type I error) and applications that are incorrectly granted a patent (Type II error). Using a proxy for inventive step as the predictor of the correct decision, we estimate that 6.1 and 9.8 per...

This paper examines whether strategic trade behavior can explain the fact that the US, Japanese and European Patent Offices – the USPTO, the JPO and the EPO – often make different decisions about whether to grant (or reject) a given patent application. We analyse this issue by considering whether examination decisions across the patent offices va...