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Publications
Publications
  • 2015
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Lost in the Clouds: The Impact of Changing Property Rights on Investment in Cloud Computing Ventures

By: Josh Lerner and Greg Rafert
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:62
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Abstract

Our analysis seeks to understand the impact of changing allocations of property rights on investment in new firms. We focus on the Cartoon Network, et al. v. Cablevision decision in the U.S., which narrowed the protection enjoyed by content creators (e.g., movie studios) and gave greater rights to downstream technology firms, as well as decisions in France and Germany that took an opposite view. Our findings regarding relative venture capital investment in the U.S. and Europe, across Europe, and between the various judicial circuits of the U.S. suggest that decisions around the allocation of property rights can have economically and statistically significant impacts on investment in innovative enterprises.

Keywords

Technological Innovation; Venture Capital; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Copyright

Citation

Lerner, Josh, and Greg Rafert. "Lost in the Clouds: The Impact of Changing Property Rights on Investment in Cloud Computing Ventures." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 15-082, April 2015.
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About The Author

Josh Lerner

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • The Diffusion of New Technologies By: Aakash Kalyani, Marcela Carvalho, Nicholas Bloom, Tarek Hassan, Josh Lerner and Ahmed Tahoun
  • Private Equity and Workers: Modeling and Measuring Monopsony, Implicit Contracts, and Efficient Reallocation By: Kyle Herkenhoff, Josh Lerner, Gordon M. Phillips, Francisca Rebelo and Benjamin Sampson
  • Impact Investing and Worker Outcomes By: Josh Lerner, Markus Lithell and Gordon M. Phillips
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