Ernest Miguélez

Singling Out Individual Inventors from Patent Data

An increasing number of studies in recent years have sought to identify individual inventors from patent data. A variety of heuristics have been proposed for using the names and other information disclosed in patent documents to establish “who is who” in patents. This paper contributes to this literature by describing a methodology for identifying inventors using patents applied to the European Patent Office (EPO hereafter). As in much of this literature, we basically follow a three-step procedure: (1) the parsing stage, aimed at reducing the noise in the inventor’s name and other fields of the patent; (2) the matching stage, where name matching algorithms are used to group similar names; and (3) the filtering stage, where additional information and various scoring schemes are used to filter out these similarly-named inventors. The paper presents the results obtained by using the algorithms with the set of European inventors applying to the EPO over a long period of time.

A relational approach to the geography of innovation: a typology of regions

The aim of this study was to devise a method for computing a composite indicator that measures the regional degree of exposure to external knowledge sources. On the basis of this indicator, we propose a typology of regions according to their potential capacity to access extra-local items of knowledge, which might help them to recombine complementary elements of such an asset to produce a higher number of new ideas. Building on various research streams that have been relatively independent to date, we summarize a non-exhaustive instrumental list of recent studies that motivates our approach and the construction of our complex indicator, which can be used to appraise the extent to which each region is in an optimal position to access external innovative resources.

Do Labour Mobility and Networks Foster Geographical Knowledge Diffusion? The Case of European Regions

The goal of this paper is twofold: first, we aim to assess the role played by inventors’ cross-regional mobility and networks of collaboration in fostering knowledge diffusion across regions and subsequent innovation. Second, we intend to evaluate the feasibility of using mobility and networks information to build cross-regional interaction matrices to be used within the spatial econometrics toolbox. To do so, we depart from a knowledge production function where regional innovation intensity is a function not only of the own regional innovation inputs but also external accessible R&D gained through interregional interactions. Differently from much of the previous literature, cross-section gravity models of mobility and networks are estimated to use the fitted values to build our ‘spatial’ weights matrices, which characterize the intensity of knowledge interactions across a panel of 269 regions covering most European countries over 6 years.

Global reversal, regional revival?

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Regional Studies on 19 January 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00343404.2016.1255720.

Foreign-origin inventors in the USA: testing for diaspora and brain gain effects

We assess the role of ethnic ties in the diffusion of technical knowledge using a database of patents filed by US-resident inventors of foreign origin, identified by name analysis. We consider 10 leading source countries, both Asian and European, of highly skilled migration to the USA and test whether foreign inventors’ patents are disproportionately cited by (i) co-ethnic migrants (‘diaspora’ effect), and (ii) inventors residing in their country of origin (‘brain gain’ effect). We find evidence of the diaspora effect for the Asian but not the European countries, with the exception of Russia. A diaspora effect does not necessarily translate into a brain gain effect, most notably for India where no such effect is detected. Neither does a brain gain effect occur solely in conjunction with a diaspora effect. Overall, diaspora and brain gain effects carry less weight than other channels of knowledge transmission, most notably co-invention networks and multinational companies.

Relatedness, external linkages and regional innovation in Europe

ABSTRACT Relatedness, external linkages and regional innovation in Europe. Regional Studies. This paper analyses if the generation of new knowledge benefits from the combination of similar or dissimilar pieces of existing technologies, in terms of their technological content (related versus unrelated variety), for the case of European regions. Specifically, it analyses the relevance of variety in the case of local knowledge as well as in the case of the knowledge coming from other regions. At the local level, it shows that while related variety is conducive to regional innovation, unrelated variety does play a role, too, when it comes to radical innovations. Conversely, it also shows that external knowledge flows have a higher impact, the higher the similarity between these flows and the extant local knowledge base.

Connecting cities, revitalizing regions: the centrality of cities to regional development

ABSTRACT This editorial and accompanying themed issue reflect on the centrality of cities to regional development. Focusing on the role and function of cities in processes of innovation, production, distribution and consumption as both individual sites and networks of sites of production, the papers examine classic questions in economic geography about concentration, diffusion, and flows of labour and capital and the policy regimes that govern that movement. They also contribute empirically and theoretically to opening up broader conversations from a global perspective regarding how cities serve as nodes in global networks both anchoring and ultimately locating global and regional flows of capital and labour. Finally, they identify what is at stake in debates over cities and regional development.

Return Migrants’ Self-selection: Evidence for Indian Inventor

Based on an original dataset linking patent data and biographical information for a large sample of US immigrant inventors with Indian names and surnames, specialized in ICT technologies, we investigate the rate and determinants of return migration. For each individual in the dataset, we both estimate the year of entry in the United States, the likely entry channel (work or education), and the permanence spell up to either the return to India or right truncation. By means of survival analysis, we then provide exploratory estimates of the probability of return migration as a function of the conditions at migration (age, education, patenting record, migration motives, and migration cohort) as well as of some activities undertaken while abroad (education and patenting). We find both evidence of negative self-selection with respect to educational achievements in the US and of positive self-selection with respect to patenting propensity. Based on the analysis of time-dependence of the return hazard ratios, return work migrants appear to be negatively self-selected with respect to unobservable skills acquired abroad, while evidence for education migrants is less conclusive.

Networks, Diffusion of Knowledge, and Regional Innovative Performance:

Research in economic geography investigates the reasons why particular economic activities choose to establish themselves in particular places and the role of agglomeration forces in generating these observed disparities in the distribution of economic activity and subsequent economic growth (Henderson and Thisse 2004; World Bank 2009). This literature made it into mainstream economics primarily thanks to the work of the 2008 Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman (Krugman 1991a, 1991b). Three agglomeration forces, with variations, are generally discussed (Marshall 1890): (i) labor market pooling; (ii) market for intermediate inputs; and (iii) technological externalities, that is to say, knowledge spillovers between firms in the same industry favored by their physical proximity (Duranton and Puga 2004). Even though Krugman himself disregarded the latter because of their immeasurability, knowledge spillovers play a central role in the economic geography literature as a primary agglomeration force, and in particular, within the geography of innovation subfield, to which this special issue contributes (Audretsch and Feldman 1996; Jaffe, Trajtenberg, and Henderson 1993; Romer 1990). The relevance conferred to knowledge spillovers also lies in the belief that the combination and recombination of previously unconnected ideas lead to new knowledge production, subsequent technological innovations, and ensuing economic growth and well-being (C. I. Jones 1995; Wuchty, Jones, and Uzzi 2007).