Working Paper: NBER ID: w27338
Authors: Chris Forman; Avi Goldfarb
Abstract: Information technology (IT) matters to prosperity. The top patenters are increasingly IT companies. We use data on US patents to document four trends in IT patenting. First, firm-level concentration in IT patenting is increasing over time. Second, geographic concentration in IT patenting is increasing over time. Third, most technology classes experienced a decline in new patenters from 1980 to 2000. This was not true of new IT patents. Since 2000, the trend in new IT patenters looks like other classes and is declining over time. Fourth, there is increased geographic concentration of new IT patenters. We do not identify the reasons behind these trends nor whether they are related to overall changes in industry concentration, agglomeration, or prosperity.
Keywords: IT Innovation; Patenting; Economic Concentration; Entrepreneurship
JEL Codes: L22; L26; M13; M15; O31; O32; O33; O34; R12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| firm-level concentration in IT patenting (L24) | ability of new entrants to compete (L13) |
| geographic concentration in IT patenting (L86) | productivity among inventors (O31) |
| geographic concentration in IT patenting (L86) | concentration of innovation in specific locations (O36) |
| increased barriers to entry (L11) | decline in new patenters (O39) |
| increased firm concentration (L19) | geographic concentration (R32) |
| firm concentration (L20) | concentration of innovation (O36) |