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Patent Citations as a Measure of Knowledge Flows: The Influence of Examiner Citations

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Author Info
Juan Alcácer (Stern School of Business, New York University)
Michelle Gittelman (Stern School of Business, New York University)
Abstract

Analysis of patent citations is a core methodology in the study of knowledge diffusion. However, citations made by patent examiners have not been separately reported, adding unknown noise to the data. We leverage a recent change in the reporting of patent data showing citations added by examiners. The magnitude is high: two-thirds of citations on the average patent are inserted by examiners. Furthermore, 40% of all patents have all citations added by examiners. We analyze the distribution of examiner and inventor citations with respect to self-citation, distance, technology overlap, and vintage. Results indicate that inferences about inventor knowledge using pooled citations may suffer from bias or overinflated significance levels. Copyright by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1162/rest.88.4.774
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Publisher Info
Article provided by MIT Press in its journal The Review of Economics and Statistics.

Volume (Year): 88 (2006)
Issue (Month): 4 (November)
Pages: 774-779
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Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:88:y:2006:i:4:p:774-779

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  1. Jan Youtie & Maurizio Iacopetta & Stuart Graham, 2008. "Assessing the nature of nanotechnology: can we uncover an emerging general purpose technology?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 315-329, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Yao Li, 2009. "Borders and Distance in Knowledge Spillovers: Dying over Time or Dying with Age? - Evidence from Patent Citations," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  3. Aditi Mehta & Marc Rysman & Tim Simcoe, 2007. "Identifying the Age Profile of Patent Citations," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2007-021, Boston University - Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Gambardella, Alfonso & Harhoff, Dietmar & Verspagen, Bart, 2008. "The Value of European Patents," CEPR Discussion Papers 6848, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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