Working Paper: NBER ID: w4146
Authors: Manuel Trajtenberg; Rebecca Henderson; Adam Jaffe
Abstract: We explore the use of patent citations to measure the "basicness" and appropriability of inventions. We propose that the basicness of research underlying an invention can be characterized by the nature of the previous patents cited by an invention; that the basicness of research outcomes relates to the subsequent patents that cite an invention; and that the fraction of citing patents that are assigned to the same organization as the original invention is a measure of appropriabiity. We test the validity of these presumptions by comparing the value of our measures for university and corporate patents, and find that many of the measures do conform to our a priori belief that university research and research outcomes are more basic and harder to appropriate than those of corporations. We also find some evidence that basicness of outcomes is correlated with basicness of research, and that appropriability is lower for basic outcomes.
Keywords: basic research; appropriability; patent citations; university patents; corporate patents
JEL Codes: O31; O32
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Basicness of underlying research (C90) | Basicness of research outcomes (C90) |
| Basicness of research outcomes (C90) | Appropriability (H82) |
| Basicness of research outcomes (C90) | Basicness of underlying research (C90) |