Technological Knowledge Flows Research Articles

Multidimensional indicators to identify emerging technologies: Perspective of technological knowledge flow

The identification of emerging technologies (ETs) is pivotal for advancing technological innovation. However, current methods fail to sufficiently clarify ETs' innovation mechanisms and lack a consistent perspective to integrate the five attributes proposed by Rotolo. This paper presents an innovative term-level framework to identify and comprehend ETs through the perspective of technological knowledge flow (TKF). By dissecting TKF comprehensively, encompassing aspects of knowledge absorption, growth, and diffusion, we construct and explicate multidimensional indicators reflective of ETs' attributes, including relatively rapid growth, radical novelty, coherence, prominent impact, as well as uncertainty and ambiguity. Through the analysis of digital medical patent dataset, our framework proves effective in assessing emergent scores and pinpointing ETs with specificity at the term level, clarifying their technological components and efficacy. This is beneficial for technology developers to overcome technical difficulties and strategic decision makers to manage IP for competitive advantage.

International labor migration policy of the European Union

The cross-border movement of labour is associated with an objective need for the host country to accept and comply with the relevant rules. This problem has always existed for the European Union and its member states due to the attractiveness of the region for migrant workers, relatively high standard of living and the widely diversified sectoral structure of the economy. Based on the analysis of the relevant directives, the article chronologises the stages of regulation of international labour migration in the EU with an emphasis on the present. Close attention is given to the EU regulatory practice of the issues of attracting highly qualified and seasonal labour third-countries workers, students and researchers, facilitating intra-corporate transfers. In this context the regulatory vector in the area of international labour migration to the EU is aimed at obtaining benefits from the influx of the necessary labour force through the creation of favorable conditions for its integration into European society. The implementation of Directive on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment will depend on the applicable practices of the EU member states. The study reveals the dualism of the economic effects of international labor migration received by the EU at present: positive in the form of a relative reduction in unit costs due to labor components, the flow of technological knowledge and negative ones associated with the displacement of part of local labor resources, the outflow of funds from foreign workers, changes in the structure of aggregate demand, the impact on the level of wages, aggravation of interethnic and interfaith conflicts against the background of a low level of integration of foreigners into local society.

Patent analysis based technology innovation assessment with the lens of disruptive innovation theory: A case of blockchain technological trajectories

The technological innovation period has reduced drastically in the current era giving rise to constantly new disruptive technologies, which may seem discreet; however, their evolution is also derived from the previous technological path. This study aims to identify the technology trajectory and evolution phases of disruptive technology, Blockchain, with respect to its predecessor technologies. Within the context of disruptive innovation theory, patent citation analysis employing the key-route main path method was utilized for this study. The data collection was based on keywords and IPC codes to retrieve US patents from the webpat database. The data obtained included 10,919 initial patents and 6206 final patents after simple family merge. The results acquired ranged from the year 1974 to 2021. The study identified five significant technology clusters based on the key-route main path analysis and framed the evolution path of the technology. The findings reveal the technological path dependence and knowledge flow of technological innovation. The novelty of this study lies in its approach to mapping DI theory characteristics with patent analysis to identify the path dependence of disruptive innovations, which aids researchers and decision-makers in understanding and assessing their innovation strategies.

Research on the Effect of Information Infrastructure Construction on Low-Carbon Technology Knowledge Flow

The cross-regional diffusion of low-carbon technology knowledge is conducive to the development of low-carbon technology and increases the emission reduction contribution of the wider land. However, the flow of low-carbon technology knowledge faces many obstacles such as information, geography, and local protectionism. This paper focuses on whether and how information infrastructure construction can promote the flow of low-carbon technology knowledge under the digital wave. Through the low-carbon technology patents of category Y02 under the classification standard of Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) and by matching them to the city level to measure the low-carbon technology knowledge flow, empirical research finds that: information infrastructure cannot only directly promote the low-carbon technology knowledge flow, but also indirectly promote the low-carbon technology diffusion by increasing foreign direct investment and human capital. The role of information infrastructure in promoting low-carbon technology knowledge is more obvious in the central and western regions and non-resource-based cities. Finally, in view of the current development situation of low-carbon technology knowledge flows in China, the paper puts forward policy recommendations to vigorously promote the construction of information infrastructure, to gradually increase the network density and the number of network nodes, release the digital economic dividend, and form a spatial pattern of coordinated development of regional knowledge flows.

How localised are knowledge spillovers? Evidence from microgeographic data on UK patent citations

ABSTRACT We model the spatial characteristics of technological knowledge flows in the UK. Using a novel and highly accurate dataset of inventor locations, we test for localisation of knowledge spillovers in citations between UK patent applications from 1982 to 2015. We apply continuous distance localisation tests separately to patent citations in 313 technologies and find that spillovers are localised in far fewer technologies and at shorter distances than previous studies have suggested. Only 30% of technologies in the UK display localisation, knowledge spillovers decay rapidly at distances between 30 and 80 km, and spillovers within technologies are twice as frequently localised as spillovers between technologies. Our results suggest that technological and geographical proximity are important determinants of knowledge spillovers in the UK and that close physical proximity is particularly relevant for industrial sectors that are more reliant on tacit knowledge.

Identifying the Roles of Research Entities in Technological Knowledge Flow Among Patents Assignees by Using Patent Citations

Despite much research on the interdisciplinarity of the publications across subject categories, few studies analyze the interdisciplinarity of the technological knowledge flow among research entities (i.e., patent assignees, inventors, and countries). In this article, we propose a framework to identify the roles of the research entities by measuring the interdisciplinarity of the technological knowledge flow. Research entities are positioned on the two-dimensional maps based on the integration index, diffusion index, and specialization index, which are used to measure the degree of the interdisciplinarity of different research entities in knowledge flow. In order to explore the role of the research entities in knowledge flow, we put forward four kinds of research entities: diverse knowledge provider, active mediator of diverse knowledge flow, diverse knowledge consumer, and negative mediator of diverse knowledge flow. The case study related to synthetic biology indicates that this method is valid and could explore effectively, the roles of the research entities to further guide the creation of new inventions by converging prominent technologies beyond technology field boundaries in facilitating active technology flow and support technological competitive evaluation and policy decision-making.

Tracing the emergence of new technology: A comparative analysis of five technological domains

The emergence of new technologies is an important and highly researched field. This paper identifies characteristics of the early stage of technology emergence by analyzing the initial patents in five different technologies (Optical information storage, optical information transmission, genome sequencing, 3D printing and magnetic resonance imaging). From the science and technology push perspective, the characteristics such as influence of initial technological knowledge, linkage to scientific knowledge, and actors of technological activity are identified in the emerging stage of the new technology. The main findings of the research are firstly that technological and scientific knowledge are strongly linked in the emerging stage as the initial patents in all five technologies cite scientific papers more highly than do patents that support the ongoing development of the technologies. Second, the initial patents during the emerging stage do not play a significant role in the overall technological knowledge flow over time. Finally, the proportion of patents held by non-firm entities in the early stage of technology emergence is relatively larger than that in the other stages in four out of five technological domains. The results provide some important hypotheses about the interaction of scientific results and technological invention that have not previously been offered and that can be further researched as data sources improve.

Innovation Effort in the Biotechnology Segment Applied to Plant Agribusiness

Biotechnology applied to Plant Agribusiness (BPA) has become increasingly familiar. However, innovation effort determinants account for a gap that has yet to be fully investigated. Therefore, was examined the influence of technological cooperation and knowledge flow in the innovation efforts of countries. In methodological terms, 20,149 patents from the BPA sector were collected from the Derwent Clarivate database from 1998 to 2019. Regarding the main findings, it is worth highlighting the occurrence of greater innovation efforts in developed countries. However, from 2015 onwards, an increase in priority technologies was identified in developing countries, which then overtook developed countries in 2019. Finally, has been proven that technological cooperation has a positive effect on innovation efforts and that there is a tendency to generate new technologies with less reference to existing technological knowledge, perhaps as an avant-garde attempt to seek a competitive advantage, prioritizing new knowledge and, at the same time, technological distinction.

Perspectives on Technological Innovation and Knowledge Flows

The patterns and sources of knowledge development in international businesses have become increasingly complex with each techno-socio- economic paradigmatic period of the mechanical, electromechanical, and information ages. This has implications not only for researchers in the technological innovation and knowledge flows domain but also for global strategists and public policymakers. The purpose of this symposium is to engage a group of distinguished panelists in an informal interactive discussion of (1) theoretical approaches to examining technological innovation and knowledge flows and (2) how digitalization and advancements in communication technologies are affecting technological innovation and knowledge flows in the information age. Each panelist is an expert in this domain and views the phenomenon through the lens of evolutionary theory, economic geography, or human migration.

A hierarchical interactive multi-channel graph neural network for technological knowledge flow forecasting

A hierarchical interactive multi-channel graph neural network for technological knowledge flow forecasting

Patent analysis in the 5G network

In recent years, 5G has been the focus of research and development in the telecom industry. This paper aims to understand the development trend and technical hot spots of 5G technology through the patent analysis and build a citation network at the assignee organization level. The workflow of the paper is divided into four steps: patent data collection and cleaning, patent overview analysis, network creation and analysis, O-I index analysis. This article collected the patent data from the United States patent and trademark office (USPTO). We understand the application trend, technical hot spots, and leading players in the 5G domain through the patent overview analysis. We comprehend the structure and characteristics of the network and critical nodes from network topology analysis. By using O-I index analysis, we learn the flow of 5G technology knowledge between the organizations. This paper provides a useful analytical model for the patent analysis and technological knowledge flow in a specific field, which can be applied to patent analysis in other fields.

Patent Analysis in the 5G Network

In recent years, 5G has been the focus of research and development in the telecom industry. This paper aims to understand the development trend and technical hot spots of 5G technology through the patent analysis and build a citation network at the assignee organization level. The workflow of the paper is divided into four steps: patent data collection and cleaning, patent overview analysis, network creation and analysis, O-I index analysis. This article collected the patent data from the United States patent and trademark office (USPTO). We understand the application trend, technical hot spots, and leading players in the 5G domain through the patent overview analysis. We comprehend the structure and characteristics of the network and critical nodes from network topology analysis. By using O-I index analysis, we learn the flow of 5G technology knowledge between the organizations. This paper provides a useful analytical model for the patent analysis and technological knowledge flow in a specific field, which can be applied to patent analysis in other fields.

Urban Growth and Convergence Dynamics after COVID-19

Internet and near-instant communication services have had a strong impact on the way people communicate and exchange information since the end of the 1990s. The COVID-19 pandemic shock is likely to provide a dramatic boost to this phenomenon. In the world that will emerge from lockdown, digital communication and videoconferencing will be integral part of daily working and social life to a much higher extent than before. This will have a disproportionally strong impact on knowledge based activities, and therefore on research. This paper presents a theoretical model of endogenous economic growth with the aim of providing hints on the possible consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic shock on income per capita growth and disparities within a system of integrated urban areas. In the model, abstract technological knowledge flows at no cost across space. In contrast, flows of tacit knowledge arise from the interaction between researchers and hence tends to be hampered by distance. Within this framework, the diffusion of broadband technology, high-speed connections and videoconferencing takes the form of a reduction of the “cost of distance” for flows of tacit knowledge. This reinforces productive specialization that, in turn, yields an increase in the system-wide, common growth rate and an increase in income per capita disparities across areas. On the other hand, social distancing is likely to yield an asymmetric negative impact on the productivity of urban research systems thus leading to a decrease in the growth rate.

The role of bipartite structure in R&D collaboration networks

AbstractA great number of real-world networks are, in fact, one-mode projections of bipartite networks comprised of two different types of nodes. In the case of interactions between institutions engaging in collaboration for technological innovation, the underlying network is bipartite with institutions (agents) linked to the patents they have filed (artefacts), while the projection is the co-patenting network. Since projected network properties are highly affected by the underlying bipartite structure a lack of understanding of the bipartite network has consequences for the information that might be drawn from the one-mode co-patenting network. Here, we create an empirical bipartite network using data from 2.7 million patents recorded by the European Patent Office. We project this network onto the agents (institutions) and look at properties of both the bipartite and projected networks that may play a role in knowledge sharing and collaboration. We compare these empirical properties to those of synthetic bipartite networks and their projections. We show that understanding the bipartite network topology is critical for understanding the potential flow of technological knowledge. Properties of the bipartite structure, such as degree distributions and small cycles, affect the topology of the one-mode projected network—specifically degree and clustering distributions, and degree assortativity. We propose new network-based metrics as a way to quantify how collaborative agents are in the collaboration network. We find that several large corporations are the most collaborative agents in the network; however, such organizations tend to have a low diversity of collaborators. In contrast, the most prolific institutions tend to collaborate relatively little but with a diverse set of collaborators. This indicates that they concentrate the knowledge of their core technical research while seeking specific complementary knowledge via collaboration with smaller institutions.

Knowledge flows and technologies in renewable energies at the regional level in Europe

ABSTRACT This study provides a new insight into the impact of knowledge flows for renewable energy (RE) technologies. With patent data for the European regions in the period 2000–10, we observe that RE technologies have more analytical knowledge content than the rest of the technologies. They also seem to benefit highly from both scientific knowledge flows and technological knowledge flows coming from distant places. This pattern is peculiar to the RE field and different from other cutting-edge technologies, and even different from those technologies related to energy generation coming from traditional energy sectors.

A structured MPA approach to explore technological core competence, knowledge flow, and technology development through social network patentometrics

Purpose This study aims to propose a methodology by integrating three approaches, namely, internal core technology, external knowledge flow and industrial technology development to help companies improve their decision-making quality for technology planning and enhance their research and development (R&D) portfolio efficiency. Design/methodology/approach The primary focus of this study is thin-film solar technology and patent data is retrieved from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. This study presents a methodology based on the proposed integrated analysis method, constructed with patent indicators, centrality analysis of social networks and main path analysis. Findings The results of this study can be itemized as – the core technological competency: companies involved in two specific technology fields have lower strength in R&D portfolio than leading companies with single-core technology. Knowledge flow: most companies in a network are knowledge producers/absorbers and technological development: diverse source and sink nodes were identified in the global main path during 1997-2003, 2004-2010 and 2011-2017. Research limitations/implications Latecomer companies can emulate leaders’ innovation and enhance their technological competence to seek niche technology. Using the global main path, companies monitor outdated technologies that can be replaced by new technologies and aid to plan R&D strategy and implement appropriate strategic decisions avoiding path dependency. Originality/value The knowledge accumulation process helps in identifying the change of position and the role of companies; understanding the trend of industrial technology knowledge helps companies to develop new technology and direct strategic decisions. The novelty of this research lies in the integrated approach of three methods aiding industries to find their internal core technical competencies and identify the external position in the competitive market.

신흥시장에서의 리버스 이노베이션 -혁신확산모형과 중국시장 사례연구-

Reverse Innovation has been a newly emerging concept of innovation for last ten years. It implies that new technology or new knowledge flows from low income countries to high income countries. This concept of reverse innovation contradicts the conventional wisdom of innovation paradigm. The conventional wisdom implies that most of technological innovation has been created within research centers located at advanced countries. Our contribution is that this paper suggests an innovation- diffusion model of reverse innovation. We divide total diffusion of reverse innovation into four sub-parts: first, identification of the problem, second, innovation in low income country, third, innovation transfer from low income country to high income country, and fourth, innovation and diffusion in high income country. We also implements a case study of China in the area of reverse innovation. Our finding show that eleven cases of reverse innovation are identified in China. Accordingly, we conclude that China is one of the Emerging Market(EM) that implements a reverse innovation. One of implications of this study is that it is necessary to intensify cooperation between high income country and low income country, since executives of headquarter of multi-national corporation(MNC) located at high income countries need to understand cultures of low income country to sell their products to low income countries. At the same time, low income country needs to cooperate with the headquarter of multi-national corporation(MNC) in high income country in order to re-export their frugal products to high income countries.

Skepticism toward globalization, technological knowledge flows, and the emergence of a new global system

AbstractResearch SummaryThis article examines the potential effect of anti‐globalization on a key attribute of multinational enterprises (MNEs)—the ability to transfer efficiently complex firm‐specific technological knowledge internationally. Anti‐globalization policies can suppress the transfer of complex technological knowledge by limiting the international transfer of intellectual property, restricting the free movement of scientists and engineers or by disharmonizing regulations across nations. Such suppression is shown to significantly change the global system in terms of the location of value‐adding activities, their organizational firm boundaries and the origin of MNEs. The model predicts that after a “shock” of anti‐globalization policies, which significantly increases international technological knowledge flow costs, a smaller number of firm and MNE location and control configurations emerges, and domestic firms become more dominant.Managerial SummaryAnti‐globalization policies threaten a key feature of multinational enterprises (MNEs)—the ability to transfer efficiently complex technological knowledge across political borders. They do so through limitations on the international transfer of intellectual property, restrictions on the free movement of scientists and engineers as well as through dis‐harmonization of regulations across nations. We present a model that shows that such limitations are likely to change the global system making it much more similar to the one that existed pre‐WW1 and WW2. The emerging global system is predicted to include a large proportion of domestic firms engaging in international trade and MNEs that locate only a small number of value chain activities abroad.

Scepticism Towards Globalization, Technological Knowledge Flows and the Emergence of a New Global System

Scepticism Towards Globalization, Technological Knowledge Flows and the Emergence of a New Global System

EMNC technological knowledge flow patterns: an overview of the US patents granted

PurposeWith considerable attention paid to the motives and process of idiosyncratic internationalization trajectory of multinationals from emerging economies (EMNCs), little is known on whether, and if so how, new competitive advantages of EMNCs are created and accumulated over time. MNC and EMNC literature agrees on the importance of external and internal knowledge linkages in technological competence creation. By building upon this framework, this paper aims to evaluate EMNCs’ external and internal knowledge flow patterns by benchmarking their counterparts from mature industrialized countries (MMNCs).Design/methodology/approachThis study analyzes US patents granted between 2000 and 2014 to leading innovation-oriented EMNCs from China and India, and their matched MMNCs. Being the first to use the US patent and citation data in studying leading innovation-oriented EMNCs, the authors use a descriptive statistical method.FindingsThe findings offer empirical insights of the scale, scope and quality of EMNC technological competence creation. Moreover, in contrast to existing EMNC literature, it is found that EMNC parents have been the most important center of EMNC technological knowledge generation. The matched group comparisons of external and internal knowledge flows further reveal detailed similarities and differences of competence creation between EMNCs and MMNCs, and among EMNCs.Originality/valueThis study represents one of the first attempts to investigate the post-internationalization technological competence creation of EMNCs by using a novel data source. This study sets the foundation to deepen the understanding of EMNC technological competence creation. The findings suggest interesting propositions and offer important implications for future researches.