These findings seem consistent with the argument that we need to regulate insider trading so as to protect corporate property rights in information:
This paper assesses whether the enforcement of insider trading laws increases or decreases patent-based measures of technological innovation. Based on about 75,000 industry-country-year observations across 94 economies from 1976 to 2006, we find evidence consistent with the view that enforcing insider trading laws spurs innovation — as measured by patent intensity, scope, impact, generality, and originality — after controlling for country-year and industry-year fixed effects. Consistent with theories that insider trading slows innovation by impeding the valuation of innovative activities, the relationship between enforcing insider trading laws and innovation is much larger in industries that are naturally innovative and opaque, where we use the U.S. to benchmark industries.
Levine, Ross and Lin, Chen and Wei, Lai, Insider Trading and Innovation (August 22, 2015). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2649295