Stefano Horst Baruffaldi

Mobility Intentions of Foreign Researchers: The Role of Non-economic Motivations

Abstract Recent contributions suggest that non-economic factors could be important motivational drivers of scientific mobility. We investigate this hypothesis in a sample of foreign researchers in Italy and Portugal, examining their willingness to leave the host country. We distinguish between economic factors, non-economic relational factors and non-economic aspirational factors. Controlling for the relevant contextual variables, we find that foreign researchers, unsatisfied with aspirational factors (e.g. level of independence, autonomy, intellectual challenge and social status), are more likely to leave their host country and move to a third country than they are to return to their countries of origin. Relational and economic factors, such as salary and benefits, do not demonstrate any additional impact.

The geography of duplicated inventions: evidence from patent citations

ABSTRACT The geography of duplicated inventions: evidence from patent citations. Regional Studies. Innovators often claim inventions that turn out to duplicate, at least in part, existing ones. This paper advances the claim that for recent and upcoming inventions, competitive incentives are high, and localized knowledge flows increase the probability of duplication. Therefore, over a brief period of time the probability of duplication is higher at short geographical distance. Conversely, the duplication of less recent inventions is more likely at long distance as a consequence of a lower awareness of the existence of a technology. This claim is supported by coherent descriptive and multivariate evidence using data on patent citation categories from the European Patent Office (EPO).

Patents and Knowledge Diffusion: The Effect of Early Disclosure

We study how the timing of information disclosure affects the diffusion of codified technical information. On November 29, 2000, the American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA) reduced the default publication time of patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to 18 months. We analyze the effects of this change by means of a regression discontinuity design with time as an assignment variable and a complementary difference-in-differences analysis. Our study shows that information flows from patents measured by forward citations, increased. Interestingly, the degree of localization within geographic boundaries remained unchanged and technological localization even increased moderately. Moreover, the effect of early disclosure on citations from patents filed by patent attorney service firms is particularly strong. These results imply that knowledge diffusion stemming from speedier disclosure of technical information is confined to the existing attention scope and absorptive capacity of specific inventors and organizations.