The Geography of New Technologies

Nicholas Bloom, Tarek Hassan, Aakash Kalyani, Josh Lerner and Ahmed Tahoun ()
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Ahmed Tahoun: Harvard University

No inetwp126, Working Papers Series from Institute for New Economic Thinking

Abstract: We identify novel technologies using textual analysis of earnings conference calls, newspapers, announcements, and patents. Our approach enables us to document the rollout of 20 new technologies across firms and labor markets in the U.S. Four stylized facts emerge from our data. First, as technologies develop, the number of new positions related to them grows, but the average education requirements and wage levels of the positions drop. Second, as technologies develop, their employment impact diffuses across the country: initially, technologies are concentrated in local hubs, but over time, their adoption diffuses geographically. Third, despite this diffusion, the initial hubs retain a disproportionate share of employment in the technology, particularly at the high-skill end of the spectrum. Finally, technology hubs are more likely to arise in areas with universities and high skilled labor pools.

Keywords: Technology; Geography; Employment; Innovation; R and D (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O31 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2020-06-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-geo, nep-ino, nep-pay, nep-sbm, nep-tid and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:thk:wpaper:inetwp126

DOI: 10.36687/inetwp126

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