Innovation and technological change, long recognized as the main drivers                  of long-term economic growth, are elusive notions that are difficult to                  conceptualize and even harder to measure in a consistent, systematic way. This book                  demonstrates the usefulness of patents and citations data as a window on the process                  of technological change and as a powerful tool for research on the economics of                  innovation. Patent records contain a wealth of information, including the inventors'                  identity, location, and employer, as well as the technological field of the                  invention. Patents also contain citation references to previous patents, which allow                  one to trace links across inventions.The book lays out the conceptual foundations                  for such research and provides a range of interesting applications, such as                  examining the geographic pattern of knowledge spillovers and evaluating the impact                  of university and government patenting. It also describes statistical tools designed                  to handle methodological problems raised by the patent and citation processes. The                  book includes a CD with complete data on 3 million patents with more than 16 million                  citations and a range of author-devised measures of the importance, generality, and                  originality of patented innovations.

Patents, Citations, and Innovations: A Window on the Knowledge Economy PDF

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