Olof Ejermo
Professor
Demographic patterns and trends in patenting: Gender, age, and education of inventors
Author
Summary, in English
Using population-wide data on inventors and their demographic characteristics, the paper analyzes trends and patterns by technologies in age, the level of education, and gender gap. We find that the education level of inventors has risen over time. We also find that the gender gap is closing but at slower pace than in other comparable areas of society. Much to our surprise, the average age of inventors has been falling in all areas, despite rising levels of education. To explain the latter finding, we suggest three mechanisms as alternatives to the burden of knowledge argument: 1) the burden of dynamic knowledge renewal, 2) new technological opportunities, and 3) a generally increased propensity to patent. We discuss policy and managerial implications of our findings. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Department/s
- CIRCLE
Publishing year
2014
Language
English
Pages
110-124
Publication/Series
Technological Forecasting & Social Change
Volume
86
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Keywords
- Inventor
- Patent
- Gender
- Age
- Education
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0040-1625