Path dependency, social capital and the geography of dirty inventions

Gianluca Biggi, Elisa Giuliani, Arianna Martinelli and Angela Parenti

Industry and Innovation, 2025, vol. 32, issue 6, 685-709

Abstract: Dirty inventions are technologies inherently designed with features that pose significant risks to both human health and the environment. In this study, we focus on a particularly pernicious type of dirty invention within the chemical technological space: persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These chemicals are internationally recognised as among the most toxic and persistent, with properties that render them resistant to natural degradation. For the first time, we construct a comprehensive dataset of POP patents – those patents that incorporate at least one POP in their formulation – filed between 1990 and 2014. We then georeferenced these patents to analyse their distribution at both global and regional scales. Our analysis delves into the regional factors influencing the prevalence of POP inventions. They reveal a pronounced path dependency effect: regions with a more developed knowledge base in technologies relevant to POPs tend to have a higher volume of POP-related patents. However, this effect is mitigated by the presence of strong social capital within these regions.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/13662716.2024.2419591

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