DEPARTURE AND PROMOTION OF U.S. PATENT EXAMINERS: DO PATENT CHARACTERISTICS MATTER?

Abstract

Using U.S. patent data, we wonder how examiners' career outcomes relate to aspects of the patenting process. We exploit longitudinal information about patents granted by a group of examiners between 1976 and 2006 and their yearly mobility between 1992 and 2006. We find consistent evidence from static, dynamic, and duration models of the importance of granting experience in specific technological fields, repeated interactions with the same inventor, and self‐citations in predicting departure or promotion. We find a positive (negative) association between self‐citation and likelihood of turnover (promotion) and a positive (negative) correlation between interaction with high (low) innovation firms and likelihood of turnover (promotion). (JEL J60, O34, M51)