Intertic, the first international academic thinktank on innovation and competition
DAILY NEW VISITORS OF INTERTIC Source: Shinystat, May 2008 
The purpose of the International Think-tank on Innovation and Competition is to coordinate and promote research by independent international economists working on the subjects of innovation, competition, endogenous market structure, the protection of intellectual property rights, industrial policy, antitrust analysis and other economic topics of relevance to the understanding of high-tech and New Economy sectors. The aim is to be a point of reference for academic and professional economists, students, researchers from related fields, policymakers and journalists interested in these issues and in the promotion of free market ideals in the New Economy. The means used to pursue these goals include the web-site www.intertic.org, enjoyed already by about a hundred thousand different visitors (see above statistics on the daily new visitors), and the promotion of conferences, seminars, lectures and publications of relevant research on innovation and competition. Every year, Intertic organizes an Annual Intertic Conference, a Conferences on Antitrust Policy at the Italian Antitrust Authority in Rome (click here for more information), and multiple round tables and seminars around Europe.
The 2007 Conference on Innovation and Competition in the New Economy (Milan, May 4-5, 2007) saw the participation of some of the leading experts on the subject coming from USA, Australia and most EU countries: Rabah Amir (University of Arizona) gave the I Stackelberg Lecture. The 2008 Conference on Endogenous Market Structures and Industrial Policy (Milan, June 5-6, 2008) welcomed Avinash Dixit (Princeton University) for the Intertic Lecture and John Sutton (London School of Economics) for the II Stackelberg Lecture. The 2009 Intertic Conference on Property Rights and Competition Policy (Milan, September 16, 2009) was organized around the III Stackelberg Lecture by John Vickers (Oxford University). The 2010 Intertic Conference on Competition in High-tech Markets (Milan, October 11-12, 2010) will be about innovation, networks, standards and multi-sided markets, which will be the topic of the IV Stackelberg Lecture by Richard Schmalensee (MIT).
Members of Intertic publish academic articles in leading international economic journals, and their research is also well recognised by policymakers. Their unique experience is also made available to the public and private sectors for specific projects and consulting activities. Executive officers, members and other contributors of Intertic are independent economists with international reputations for their academic activity. Nevertheless their research is linked by a common trust in the importance of free competition to enhance economic efficiency and of the protection of IPRs to promote innovation and growth. Intertic has promoted and coordinated research on issues of innovation and competition, technological progress and antitrust policy leading to hundreds of academic articles, books, working papers and memos. Some of these are freely available on this website, that includes theoretical, empirical and policy-oriented articles organised by subject, media briefings for the press, a book section and videos. While most content is in English, there are also sections in other major languages.
Publications by executive officers and members of Intertic have appeared in top economic and law journals (including The American Economic Review, International Economic Review, The RAND Journal of Economics, Journal of Industrial Economics, International Journal of Industrial Organization and many others). Articles and interviews with Intertic staff have appeared in international newspapers (such as the Financial Times) and magazines (such as The Economist), and international TV channels (such as CNBC).
Since Summer 2006, Intertic belongs to the Stockholm Network, the leading pan-European network including the most prestigious academic, independent and market oriented organizations in Europe. Founded in 1997 and directed by Helen Disney, the Stockholm Network brings together more than a hundred thinktanks from across Europe, with the capacity to deliver local messages and locally-tailored global messages across the EU and beyond. Combined, think tanks in this network publish thousands of op-eds in the high quality European press, produce many hundreds of publications, and hold a wide range of conferences, seminars and meetings. As such, the Stockholm Network and its members influence many millions of Europeans every year. The Network is a forum for sharing, exchanging and developing pan-European research and best practice. It promotes and raises awarenes of policies which create the social and economic conditions for a free society. These include: encouraging an informed debate on intellectual property rights as an incentive to innovate and develop new knowledge in the future, whilst ensuring wide public access to such products in the present, reforming European energy markets to ensure the most beneficial balance between economic growth and environmental quality and emphasising the benefits of globalization, trade and competition, and creating an understanding of free market ideas and institutions. Intertic, which is mainly focused on issues of competition and innovation, shares these objectives with the Stockholm Network. To visit the Stockholm Network Map and the other members of the network country by country click here.
THE INTERTIC WEBSITE
The operative objectives of the INTERTIC website www.intertic.org include the worldwide diffusion of theoretical, empirical and journalistic research on innovation, competition and industrial policy, and the creation of a forum for discussion between economists, students and policymakers in this field where the most interesting ideas, comments and suggestions are discussed on line.
Already during its first five years of existence, Intertic has been used as a teaching tool in undergraduate and graduate courses on Industrial Organization and Industrial Policy in many European countries. Daily visitors interact with Intertic from more than a hundred different countries. Above we report the percentages of visitors for macroregions in the world and for countries in the European Union - 15, which represent the majority of visitors. Below we report the percentages of visitors for countries in all Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.
The website includes:
- a Media Briefing Section, focused on short commentaries written by Intertic members on recently debated issues, mainly directed toward journalists and opinion-makers;
- a Policy Section, focused on the policy-oriented research, useful for policymakers, journalists and anybody interested in rigorous studies at a non technical level concerning innovation, competition and industrial policy;
- a Theory Section, focused on the academic research on theoretical aspects of relevant issues concerning innovation, competition and industrial policy
- a Books Section, focused on reviews of books and preliminary exclusives of forthcoming books;
- a Video Section, focused on videos on talks by economists;
- other sections with works in other main languages as the French Section, the German Section and the Italian Section.
The main subjects of research and debate include:
- analysis of competitive and oligopolistic market structures;
- analysis of market structures characterized by relevant investments in innovation and network effects;
- analysis of specific industries in the New Economy;
- anti-trust analysis for the Old Economy and for the New Economy;
- patent races, innovation and growth;
- industrial policies for innovation;
- protection of Intellectual Property Rights;
- the patent system in US, Europe and the rest of the world;
- the role of SMEs in innovation and patenting;
- relationship between interoperability issues and protection of IPRs with particular reference to the software industry;
- industrial policy for the New Economy
ORGANIZATIONAL STATUS:
Independent think-tank, founded in 2004.
