IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v117y2018i2d10.1007_s11192-018-2892-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mapping countries cooperation networks in photovoltaic technology development based on patent analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Alex Fabianne de Paulo

    (Universidade de São Paulo)

  • Evandro Marcos Saidel Ribeiro

    (Universidade de São Paulo)

  • Geciane Silveira Porto

    (Universidade de São Paulo)

Abstract

Research activities on solar energy has been growing and use of patents becomes an important innovation source for many types of studies. This paper aims to analyze solar photovoltaic (PV) patents and describes its assignees cooperation profile. PV patents based on IPC Green Inventory code were selected from 1990 to 2014, filtered out co-ownership patents and use social network analysis (SNA) to find PV technology development networks. Main findings are an increase of patents assignees over the years and a general concern for develop technologies “Devices adapted for the conversion radiation energy into electrical energy”, “Assemblies of a plurality of solar cells” and “Silicon; single-crystal growth”. SNA enabled to identify four countries clusters that presented cooperation behavior and shared similar concerns in PV technology development. The USA, China, Spain and Korea were main countries of each cluster. Furthermore, through network statistics, it implied that a country that had more patents was not the most important on that technology development. The USA, Germany and UK were the most relevant countries in PV technologies because they were the ones with more cooperation with other countries and with the most collaborative countries overall. Thus, these countries are the largest holders and influencers in PV technologies development. Based on the structure and interaction between country clusters, it is possible to understand who cooperates or competes with whom. So, this information allows establishing strategies of partnerships, or even of competition, between countries, firms and research centers.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Fabianne de Paulo & Evandro Marcos Saidel Ribeiro & Geciane Silveira Porto, 2018. "Mapping countries cooperation networks in photovoltaic technology development based on patent analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(2), pages 667-686, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:117:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-018-2892-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-018-2892-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-018-2892-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-018-2892-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sternitzke, Christian & Bartkowski, Adam & Schwanbeck, Heike & Schramm, Reinhard, 2007. "Patent and literature statistics - The case of optoelectronics," World Patent Information, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 327-338, December.
    2. Sternitzke, Christian & Bartkowski, Adam & Schramm, Reinhard, 2008. "Visualizing patent statistics by means of social network analysis tools," World Patent Information, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 115-131, June.
    3. Stephen P. Borgatti & Rob Cross, 2003. "A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 432-445, April.
    4. Xiao-Ping Lei & Zhi-Yun Zhao & Xu Zhang & Dar-Zen Chen & Mu-Hsuan Huang & Jia Zheng & Run-Sheng Liu & Jing Zhang & Yun-Hua Zhao, 2013. "Technological collaboration patterns in solar cell industry based on patent inventors and assignees analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(2), pages 427-441, August.
    5. Franzoni, Chiara & Sauermann, Henry, 2014. "Crowd science: The organization of scientific research in open collaborative projects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 1-20.
    6. Albino, Vito & Ardito, Lorenzo & Dangelico, Rosa Maria & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2014. "Understanding the development trends of low-carbon energy technologies: A patent analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 836-854.
    7. Bensi Dong & Guoqiang Xu & Xiang Luo & Yi Cai & Wei Gao, 2012. "A bibliometric analysis of solar power research from 1991 to 2010," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 93(3), pages 1101-1117, December.
    8. Christian Terwiesch & Yi Xu, 2008. "Innovation Contests, Open Innovation, and Multiagent Problem Solving," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(9), pages 1529-1543, September.
    9. Ping Zhou & Wolfgang Glänzel, 2010. "In-depth analysis on China’s international cooperation in science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 82(3), pages 597-612, March.
    10. Loet Leydesdorff & Liwen Vaughan, 2006. "Co‐occurrence matrices and their applications in information science: Extending ACA to the Web environment," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 57(12), pages 1616-1628, October.
    11. Xia Gao & Jiancheng Guan & Ronald Rousseau, 2011. "Mapping collaborative knowledge production in China using patent co-inventorships," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(2), pages 343-362, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gao, Xue & Zhang, Yi, 2022. "What is behind the globalization of technology? Exploring the interplay of multi-level drivers of international patent extension in the solar photovoltaic industry," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    2. Li, Yaya & Zhu, Zhu & Guan, Yefeng & Kang, Yanfang, 2022. "Research on the structural features and influence mechanism of the green ICT transnational cooperation network," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 734-749.
    3. So Yoon Yoon & Su Jung Jee & So Young Sohn, 2021. "Mapping and identifying technological coopetition: a multi-level approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 5797-5817, July.
    4. Shu-Hao Chang, 2022. "Examining Key Technologies Among Academic Patents Through an Analysis of Standard-Essential Patents," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, July.
    5. Shu-Hao Chang & Chin-Yuan Fan, 2020. "Using Patent Technology Networks to Observe Neurocomputing Technology Hotspots and Development Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-15, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de Paulo, Alex Fabianne & Porto, Geciane Silveira, 2017. "Solar energy technologies and open innovation: A study based on bibliometric and social network analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 228-238.
    2. Jiaming Jiang & Yu Zhao & Junshi Feng, 2022. "University–Industry Technology Transfer: Empirical Findings from Chinese Industrial Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Liu, Weiwei & Song, Yifan & Bi, Kexin, 2021. "Exploring the patent collaboration network of China's wind energy industry: A study based on patent data from CNIPA," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    4. JinHyo Joseph Yun & EuiSeob Jeong & Xiaofei Zhao & Sung Deuk Hahm & KyungHun Kim, 2019. "Collective Intelligence: An Emerging World in Open Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-15, August.
    5. Song, Kisik & Kim, Kyuwoong & Lee, Sungjoo, 2018. "Identifying promising technologies using patents: A retrospective feature analysis and a prospective needs analysis on outlier patents," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 118-132.
    6. Ethan Mollick & Ramana Nanda, 2016. "Wisdom or Madness? Comparing Crowds with Expert Evaluation in Funding the Arts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(6), pages 1533-1553, June.
    7. Jungwon Yoon, 2015. "The evolution of South Korea’s innovation system: moving towards the triple helix model?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 104(1), pages 265-293, July.
    8. Jiaming Jiang & Rajeev K. Goel & Xingyuan Zhang, 2020. "IPR policies and determinants of membership in Standard Setting Organizations: a social network analysis," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 129-154, December.
    9. An, Jaehyeong & Kim, Kyuwoong & Mortara, Letizia & Lee, Sungjoo, 2018. "Deriving technology intelligence from patents: Preposition-based semantic analysis," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 217-236.
    10. Jiaming Jiang & Rajeev K. Goel & Xingyuan Zhang, 2019. "Knowledge flows from business method software patents: influence of firms’ global social networks," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 1070-1096, August.
    11. Bruns, Stephan B. & Kalthaus, Martin, 2020. "Flexibility in the selection of patent counts: Implications for p-hacking and evidence-based policymaking," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    12. Julia Bauer & Nikolaus Franke & Philipp Tuertscher, 2016. "Intellectual Property Norms in Online Communities: How User-Organized Intellectual Property Regulation Supports Innovation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 724-750, December.
    13. Jiaming Jiang & Yu Zhao, 2023. "Technology Trend Analysis of Japanese Green Vehicle Powertrains Technology Using Patent Citation Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-14, February.
    14. Yuandi Wang & Jian Li & Lutao Ning & Deming Zeng & Xin Gu, 2014. "Dynamic patterns of technology collaboration: a case study of the Chinese automobile industry, 1985–2010," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(1), pages 663-683, October.
    15. Lili Wang & Xianwen Wang & Niels J. Philipsen, 2017. "Network structure of scientific collaborations between China and the EU member states," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(2), pages 765-781, November.
    16. Haeussler, Carolin & Vieth, Sabrina, 2022. "A question worth a million: The expert, the crowd, or myself? An investigation of problem solving," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(3).
    17. Calvin Weng & Tugrul Daim, 2012. "Structural Differentiation and Its Implications—Core/Periphery Structure of the Technological Network," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 3(4), pages 327-342, December.
    18. Sungchul Choi & Hyunseok Park, 2016. "Investigation of Strategic Changes Using Patent Co-Inventor Network Analysis: The Case of Samsung Electronics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Yuan, Xiaodong & Li, Xiaotao, 2021. "Mapping the technology diffusion of battery electric vehicle based on patent analysis: A perspective of global innovation systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    20. Cappa, Francesco & Oriani, Raffaele & Pinelli, Michele & De Massis, Alfredo, 2019. "When does crowdsourcing benefit firm stock market performance?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cooperation networks; Patent analysis; Photovoltaic; Social network analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:117:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-018-2892-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.