They don't invent them like they used to
Subtitle: an examination of energy patent citations over time
By: David Popp.
Contributors: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series ;; working paper 11415; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) ;; working paper no. 11415.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Subjects: Power (Mechanics) -- Patents.; Patents -- United States.
Description: "This paper uses patent citation data to study flows of knowledge across time and across institutions in the field of energy research.  Popp (2002) finds the level of energy-saving R&D depends not only on energy prices, but also on the quality of the accumulated knowledge available to inventors.  Patent citations are used to represent this quality.  This paper explores the pattern of citations in these fields more carefully.  I find evidence for diminishing returns to research inputs, both across time and within a given year.  To check whether government R&D can help alleviate potential diminishing returns, I pay special attention to citations to government patents.  Government patents filed in or after 1981 are more likely to be cited.  More importantly, descendants of these government patents are 30 percent more likely to be cited by subsequent patents.  Earlier government research was more applied in nature and is not cited more frequently"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Title from PDF file as viewed on 7/11/2005.
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Mode of access: World Wide Web.