Mapping General Purpose Technologies with Patent Data

Sergio Petralia

No 2027, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: This article develops a three-dimension indicator to capture the main features of General Purpose Technologies (GPTs) in patent data. Technologies are evaluated based on their scope for improvement and elaboration, the variety of products and processes that use them, and their complementarity with existing and new technologies. Technologies’ scope for improvement is measured using patenting growth rates. The range of its uses is mapped by implementing a text-mining algorithm that traces technology-specific vocabulary in the universe of all available patent documents. Finally, complementarity with other technologies is measured using the co-occurrence of technological claims in patents. These indicators are discussed and evaluated using widely studied examples of GPTs such as Electric & Electronic (at the beginning of the 20th century) and Computer & Communications. These measures are then used to propose a simple way of identifying GPTs with patent data. It is shown there exist a positive association between the rate of adoption of GPTs in sectors, measured in terms of the number of GPT patents, and their growth.

Keywords: Disruptive Technologies; General Purpose Technologies; technological change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O33 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-07, Revised 2020-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

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