Invention and transfer of climate change-mitigation technologies: a global analysis

Antoine Dechezleprêtre, Matthieu Glachant, Ivan Haščič, Nick Johnstone and Yann Ménière ()

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This article uses the European Patent Office Worldwide Patent Statistical Database to examine the geographic distribution and global diffusion of inventions in thirteen climate-mitigation technologies since 1978. The data suggest that until 1990 innovation was driven mostly by energy prices. Since then, environmental policies, and, more recently, climate policies, have accelerated the pace of innovation. The data also indicate that innovation is highly concentrated in three countries-Japan, Germany, and the United States-which together account for 60 percent of total inventions. Surprisingly, the contribution of emerging economies is far from negligible as China and Brazil together account for about 10 percent of total inventions. However, inventions from emerging economies are less likely to find markets beyond their borders, suggesting that inventions from emerging economies have less value. More generally, international transfers occur mostly between developed countries (73 percent of all exported inventions). Exports from developed countries to emerging economies are still limited (22 percent) but are growing rapidly, especially to China.

Keywords: ISI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O33 O34 Q54 Q55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-07
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (155)

Published in Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, July, 2011, 5(1), pp. 109-130. ISSN: 1750-6824

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/37667/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Invention and Transfer of Climate Change--Mitigation Technologies: A Global Analysis (2011)
Working Paper: Invention and transfer of climate change-mitigation technologies: A global analysis (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:37667

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