Ina Ganguli, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Ina Ganguli, University of Massachusetts Amherst
The Paper Trail of Knowledge Spillovers: Evidence from Patent Interferences
The Paper Trail of Knowledge Spillovers: Evidence from Patent Interferences
24 Oct 20181:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Faculty and doctoral students only
We show evidence of localized knowledge spillovers using a new database of U.S. patent
interferences terminated between 1998 and 2014. Interferences resulted when two or more independent parties nearly simultaneously submitted identical claims of invention.
Following the idea that inventors of identical inventions share common knowledge inputs,
interferences provide a new method for measuring knowledge spillovers. Interfering
inventors are 1.4 to 4 times more likely to live in the same city or region than matched
control pairs of inventors. They are also more geographically concentrated than citation-linked
inventors. Our results emphasize geographic distance as a barrier to tacit knowledge
flows.
Location:
Baker Library | Bloomberg Center 101
Organizer:
We show evidence of localized knowledge spillovers using a new database of U.S. patent interferences terminated between 1998 and 2014. Interferences resulted when two or more independent parties nearly simultaneously submitted identical claims of invention. Following the idea that inventors of identical inventions share common knowledge inputs, interferences provide a new method for measuring knowledge spillovers. Interfering inventors are 1.4 to 4 times more likely to live in the same city or region than matched control pairs of inventors. They are also more geographically concentrated than citation-linked inventors. Our results emphasize geographic distance as a barrier to tacit knowledge flows.