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Briefing
Innovation, Diffusion and Intellectual Property Rights
Our recent working paper studies innovation and diffusion of technology along an industry's evolution and characterizes how diffusion affects the incentives to innovate. In our analysis, firms participate in a competitive industry and face production capacity constraints. The entry of imitators thus increases industry supply and is socially beneficial to a degree. We show that, from the social welfare point of view, innovators should be compensated for intellectual property rights to internalize their knowledge spillovers to imitators. However, such compensation should be only partial due to ...
Working Paper
The Effect of Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards on Technology Adoption
Many countries are tightening passenger vehicle fuel economy standards. The literature on passenger vehicle standards has used structural models to estimate their welfare effects. This paper provides the first empirical evidence on the effects of recently tightened fuel economy standards on technology adoption. Specifically, it investigates changes in the rate and direction of technology adoption, that is, the extent to which technology is used to increase fuel economy at the expense of other vehicle attributes. We find that recent U.S. and European standards have both increased the rate of ...
Working Paper
The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a potentially important new technology, but its impact on the economy depends on the speed and intensity of adoption. This paper reports results from a series of nationally representative U.S. surveys of generative AI use at work and at home. As of late 2024, nearly 40% of the U.S. population age 18-64 uses generative AI. Among employed respondents, 23% used generative AI for work at least once in the previous week: 9% used it every workday, and 14% on some but not all workdays. Relative to each technology's first mass-market product launch, work ...
Working Paper
The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a potentially important new technology, but its impact on the economy depends on the speed and intensity of adoption. This paper reports results from a series of nationally representative U.S. surveys of generative AI use at work and at home. As of late 2024, nearly 40% of the U.S. population age 18-64 uses generative AI. 23% of employed respondents had used generative AI for work at least once in the previous week, and 9% used it every work day. Relative to each technology’s first mass-market product launch, work adoption of generative AI has been ...
Working Paper
The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a potentially important new technology, but its impact on the economy depends on the speed and intensity of adoption. This paper reports results from a series of nationally representative U.S. surveys of generative AI use at work and at home. As of late 2024, nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population age 18-64 uses generative AI. 23 percent of employed respondents had used generative AI for work at least once in the previous week, and 9 percent used it every work day. Relative to each technology’s first mass-market product launch, work adoption of ...
Working Paper
The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a potentially important new technology, but its impact on the economy depends on the speed and intensity of adoption. This paper reports results from the first nationally representative U.S. survey of generative AI adoption at work and at home. In August 2024, 39 percent of the U.S. population age 18-64 used generative AI. More than 24 percent of workers used it at least once in the week prior to being surveyed, and nearly one in nine used it every workday. Historical data on usage and mass-market product launches suggest that U.S. adoption of ...
Working Paper
The Adoption of Non-Rival Inputs and Firm Scope
Custom software is distinct from other types of capital because it is non-rival—once a firm invests in it, the software can be used simultaneously across its many establishments. Using confidential U.S. Census data, we document that while firms with more establishments are more likely to invest in custom software, they spend less on it as a share of total capital expenditures. We explain these empirical patterns by developing a model that incorporates the non-rivalry of software and the firm’s choice of scope. Firms choose whether to adopt custom software, the intensity of their ...
Working Paper
The Adoption of Non-Rival Inputs and Firm Scope
Custom software is distinct from other types of capital in that it is non-rival---once a firm makes an investment in custom software, it can be used simultaneously across its many establishments. Using confidential US Census data, we document that while firms with more establishments are more likely to invest in custom software, they spend less on it as a share of total capital expenditure. We explain these empirical patterns by developing a model that incorporates the non-rivalry of custom software. In the model, firms choose whether to adopt custom software, the intensity of their ...
Working Paper
The Adoption of Non-Rival Inputs and Firm Scope
Custom software is distinct from other types of capital in that it is non-rival---once a firm makes an investment in custom software, it can be used simultaneously across its many establishments. Using confidential US Census data, we document that while firms with more establishments are more likely to invest in custom software, they spend less on it as a share of total capital expenditure. We explain these empirical patterns by developing a model that incorporates the non-rivalry of custom software. In the model, firms choose whether to adopt custom software, the intensity of their ...