The blocking and transmission effects of lower level system in patent transaction - evidence from Chinese colleges and universities

Abstract Conflicts and contradictions within the legal system may affect the effectiveness of law enforcement, but scholars have not conducted sufficient empirical research on the mechanism. Based on three periods of mixed cross-sectional data in 2015 and 2019 when the reform of patent transaction system in colleges and universities, which represents a quasi-natural experiment, has been carried out, this study adopted a difference-in-difference (DID) model to empirically analyze the efficiency of patent transactions. It was found that if the lower level system was not removed or revised in time when the higher level law had been revised, it would have a blocking effect on the implementation of the higher level law and thus make patent transaction less efficient. Furthermore, when the lower level system was revised accordingly, it would have a transmission effect on the implementation of the higher level law, which could promote its implementation. This basic conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests and can provide useful lessons for the systemic revision and organizing of laws, as well as the reform of the economic and social systems.