Foreign inventors in Europe and the United States: Diversity and Patent Quality
Language
EN
Article de revue
This item was published in
Research Policy. 2019
English Abstract
We explore the impact of migrant inventors on patent quality in Europe and the United States between 1990 and 2010. Drawing on a large sample of patent applications filed at the European Patent Office with a corresponding ...Read more >
We explore the impact of migrant inventors on patent quality in Europe and the United States between 1990 and 2010. Drawing on a large sample of patent applications filed at the European Patent Office with a corresponding Patent Cooperation Treaty extension, we select inventor teams whose members reside in the countries of interest, but whose nationality may vary. In keeping with the literature, we find that migrant inventors are associated with higher quality patents via increased diversity at the team level, in addition to increased diversity at both the company and local level. This positive relationship with diversity persists after conditioning for the presence of migrants in the team, which is suggestive of cultural, and not merely functional, diversity.Read less <
English Keywords
Diversity
International migration
Inventive activity
Patent applications
Patent cooperation treaties
Patents and inventions
Regional planning