Ivan Haščič

Invention and Transfer of Climate Change Mitigation Technologies on a Global Scale: A Study Drawing on Patent Data

This paper uses the EPO/OECD World Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT) to provide a quantitative description of the geographic distribution of inventions in thirteen climate mitigation technologies since 1978 and their international diffusion on a global scale. Statistics suggest that innovation has mostly been driven by energy prices until 1990. Since then, environmental policies, and climate policies more recently, have accelerated the pace of innovation. Innovation is highly concentrated in three countries—Japan, Germany and the USA—which account for 60% of total innovations. Surprisingly, the innovation performance of emerging economies is far from being negligible as China and South Korea together represent about 15% of total inventions. However, they export much less inventions than industrialized countries, suggesting their inventions have less value. More generally, international transfers mostly occur between developed countries (73% of exported inventions). Exports from developed countries to emerging economies are still limited (22%) but are growing rapidly, especially to China.

Environmental policy stringency and technological innovation: evidence from survey data and patent counts

This article uses patent data to examine the impact of public environmental policy on innovations in environment-related technology. The analysis is conducted using data on an unbalanced panel of 77 countries between 2001 and 2007, drawing upon data obtained from the European Patent Office (EPO) World Patent Statistical (PATSTAT) database and the World Economic Forums (WEF) ‘Executive Opinion Survey’. The results support our hypotheses concerning the positive role of both general innovative capacity and environmental policy stringency on environment-related innovation. A subsequent two-stage model assesses the factors which drive innovation in general and uses the fitted values to estimate environmental innovation. While the analysis is conducted on a smaller sample, they confirm the findings of the reduced-form model.

Protecting Watershed Ecosystems through Targeted Local Land Use Policies

Land-use change is arguably the most pervasive socioeconomic force driving the change and degradation of watershed ecosystems. This paper combines an econometric model of land use choice with three models of watershed health indicators (conventional water pollution, toxic water pollution, and the number of aquatic species at risk) to examine the effects of land use policies on watershed ecosystems through their effect on land use choice. The analysis is conducted using parcel-level data from four western states in the United States (California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho). Our results suggest that incentive-based local land use policies, such as development impact fees and preferential property taxation, are most effective in improving water quality and decreasing the number of species at risk if targeted according to the current land use mix in the watersheds, while policies that attempt to change the returns to agricultural and forest land, such as reforestation payments or agricultural subsidies, are ineffective in any watershed.

Land Use and Watershed Health in the United States

This national-scale, watershed-level analysis provides an empirical assessment of land use impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystems in the United States. Results suggest that the level of conventional water pollution in a watershed is significantly affected by the amount of land allocated to intensive agriculture and urban development, while the level of toxic water pollution is significantly affected by the amount of land allocated to transportation and mining. We examine the relationship between land use, water quality, and aquatic species extinction and discuss the implications of the results for the design and implementation of the water quality trading policy. (JEL Q24, Q53, Q57)

Efficiency Improving Fossil Fuel Technologies for Electricity Generation: Data Selection and Trends

This paper studies innovation dynamics in efficiency improving electricity generation technologies as an important means of mitigating climate change impacts. Relevant patents are identified and used as an indicator of innovation. We find that patenting in efficiency improving technologies has mostly been stable over time, with a recent decreasing trend. We also find that majority of patents are first filed in OECD countries and only then in non-OECD or BRIC countries. Conversely, non-OECD and BRIC countries apply for patents that are mostly marketed domestically. This result shows that there is significant technology transfer in the field of efficiency improving technologies for electricity production. This flow of know-how is likely to contribute to mitigation of greenhouse gases emissions in emerging economies in the long run.

CDM and international technology transfer: empirical evidence on wind power

This article examines the effect of the Kyoto Protocols Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) on the international transfer of wind power technologies. The analysis is conducted using patent data from over 100 countries during the period 1988–2008. It is found that transfers from Annex I countries to non-Annex I countries are significantly affected by the contemporaneous establishment of projects under the CDM. However, when taking into account the cumulative effect of CDM projects, the effect is negative. Finally, the effect of domestic absorptive capacity in the host country is positive and significant. Because involvement with the CDM may increase the latter, this is an important area for further research.

Effects of Environmental Policy on the Type of Innovation: The Case of Automotive Emissions Control Technologies

This article uses patent data to assess policy factors (domestic and international) for patenting activity in automotive emission control technologies. Particular attention is paid to the role of different policy types and fuel prices on both post-combustion and integrated abatement technologies. The results confirm that fuel prices have played a role in the development of integrated strategies, while regulatory standards have been more important with respect to post-combustion technologies. In addition, ‘integrated’ abatement strategies are more closely linked to general determinants of innovation than is the case for post-combustion technologies. This has implications for the design of policies which encourage innovations with both private and public benefits.

Environmental Policy Design and the Fragmentation of International Markets for Innovation

It has long been argued that the implementation of market-based environmental policy instruments such as environmentally-related taxes and tradable permits is likely to lead to greater technological innovation than more direct forms of regulation such as technology-based standards. One of the principle reasons for such an assertion is that they give firms greater „flexibility‟ to identify the optimal means of innovating to meet the given environmental objective. Thus, it can be argued that the benefits of (some) market-based instruments can also be true of well-designed performance standards. While the theoretical case for the use of flexible policy instruments is well-developed, empirical evidence remains limited. Drawing upon a database of patent applications from a cross-section of countries evidence is provided for the positive effect of „flexibility‟ of the domestic environmental policy regime on the propensity for the inventions induced to be diffused widely in the world economy. For a given level of policy stringency, countries with more flexible environmental policies are more likely to generate innovations which are diffused widely and are more likely to benefit from innovations generated elsewhere. And while the focus of this paper is on the specific case of environmental policy, the discussion is equally applicable to aspects of product and labour market regulation which have implications for technological innovation, such as product and workplace safety.

Invention and Diffusion of Water Supply and Water Efficiency Technologies: Insights from a Global Patent Dataset

This paper identifies over 50,000 patents filed worldwide in various water-related technologies between 1990 and 2010, distinguishing between those related to availability (supply) and conservation (demand) technologies. Patenting activity is analyzed — including inventive activity by country and technology, international diffusion of such water-related technologies, and international collaboration in technology development. Three results stand out from our analysis. First, although inventive activity in water-related technologies has been increasing over the last two decades, this growth has been disproportionately concentrated on supply-side technologies. Second, whilst 80% of water-related invention occurs worldwide in countries with low or moderate water scarcity, several countries with absolute or chronic water scarcity are relatively specialized in water efficiency technologies. Finally, although we observe a positive association between water scarcity and local filings of water patents, some countries with high water availability, in particular Switzerland or Norway, nevertheless appear as significant markets for water-efficiency technologies. This suggests that drivers other than local demand, like regulation and social and cultural factors, play a role in explaining the global flows of technologies.

Implications of Policy Uncertainty for Innovation in Environmental Technologies: The Case of Public R&D Budgets

The role that environmental policy uncertainty can play on innovation in environmental technologies has not been extensively assessed empirically. In this chapter, we seek to assess the impact of environmental policy uncertainty on innovation, using patent data as a proxy for innovation and volatility in public expenditures on ‘environmental’ R&D as a measure of policy uncertainty. Drawing upon a panel data set of 23 OECD countries over the period 1986–2007, support is found for the negative effect of public R&D volatility on innovation. In the base model, a 10% increase in policy uncertainty is seen to cause a 1.2–2.8% decrease in environmental patent activity, whereas a 10% increase in government support for R&D will increase innovation by 2.6–3.9%.