CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Szakács, János |
|---|---|
| Title | BUILDING TRUST AND INNOVATION: THE EFFECTS OF HARMONIZING TRADE SECRECY LAWS ON THE EU INNOVATION ECONOMY |
| Summary | Trade secrets are used as appropriation methods by all innovative businesses either at early stages of innovation or throughout the whole innovation cycle. The European Union plans to establish an Innovation Union in the future, and they will need efficiently conducted cross-border innovation activities to reach that end. However, the current legal environment is so diverse and inefficient on an international scale that innovative businesses are highly discouraged from entering intra-EU cross-border and, in numerous countries, even domestic innovation-related transactions. This thesis proves that trade secret law harmonisation in the EU would lead to efficient private and social changes in the innovation economy by incentivising businesses to make efficient decisions in their relationships with other parties in innovation related transactions. Three scenarios are chosen for analysis, which are the most important building blocks of international innovation and in which trade secret laws influence efficiency: strategic R&D alliances, know-how licensing, and contracts with knowledge employees. By evaluating the changes in parties’ incentives with and without efficient trade secret law harmonisation, this thesis finds that harmonisation would nurture collaboration, trust and optimally designed contracts in all three scenarios. The main message of this work to EU policymakers is that harmonisation is needed urgently, and their focus should be on including clear, pragmatic and flexible substantive definitions, and on ensuring maximum confidentiality during legal proceedings, along with effectively designed minimum civil liability rules. |
| Supervisor | Baniak, Andrzej; Sganga, Caterina |
| Department | Economics MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/szakacs_janos.pdf |
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