Ethnic Inventors, Diversity and Innovation in the UK: Evidence from Patents Microdata

Max Nathan

SERC Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Performance, LSE

Abstract: Ethnic inventors play important roles in US innovation systems, especially in high-tech regions like Silicon Valley. Do 'ethnicity-innovation' channels exist elsewhere? This paper investigates, using a new panel of UK patents microdata. In theory, ethnicity might affect positively innovation via 'star' migrants, network externalities from co-ethnic groups, or production complementarities from diverse inventor communities. I use the novel ONOMAP name classification system to identify ethnic inventors. Controlling for individuals' human capital, I find small positive effects of South Asian and Southern European co-ethnic group membership on individual patenting. The overall diversity of inventor communities also helps raise individual inventors' productivity. I find no hard evidence that ethnic inventors crowd out patenting by majority groups.

Keywords: ethnic inventors; innovation; patents; cultural diversity; diasporas; cities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J24 J61 M13 O3 R11 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cis, nep-dem, nep-eur, nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-pr~ and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Ethnic inventors, diversity and innovation in the UK: evidence from patents microdata (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cep:sercdp:0092

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