Risch, Michael --- "Empirical methods in trade secret research" [2019] ELECD 1987; in Depoorter, Ben; Menell, Peter; Schwartz, David (eds), "Research Handbook on the Economics of Intellectual Property Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 638

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Economics of Intellectual Property Law

Editor(s): Depoorter, Ben; Menell, Peter; Schwartz, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 29

Section Title: Empirical methods in trade secret research

Author(s): Risch, Michael

Number of pages: 17

Abstract/Description:

This chapter surveys a variety of methods in conducting empirical trade secret research. It discusses data sources, study types and methods, and challenges unique to trade secrecy with respect to four different considerations: innovation incentives, trade-offs with other IP, the “cost minimization” theory of trade secrets, and litigation behavior. The chapter also includes a comprehensive bibliography of every empirical trade secret study we could locate, organized by subject. Many of the papers and their findings are discussed in the chapter as aids for those developing their own research along similar paths.