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The Agglomeration of US Ethnic Inventors

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Author Info
William R. Kerr () (Harvard Business School, Entrepreneurial Management Unit)

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Abstract

The ethnic composition of US inventors is undergoing a significant transformation - with deep impacts for the overall agglomeration of US innovation. This study applies an ethnic-name database to individual US patent records to explore these trends with greater detail. The contributions of Chinese and Indian scientists and engineers to US technology formation increase dramatically in the 1990s. At the same time, these ethnic inventors became more spatially concentrated across US cities. The combination of these two factors helps stop and reverse long-term declines in overall inventor agglomeration evident in the 1970s and 1980s. The heightened ethnic agglomeration is particularly evident in industry patents for high-tech sectors, and similar trends are not found in institutions constrained from agglomerating (e.g., universities, government).

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Harvard Business School in its series Harvard Business School Working Papers with number 09-003.

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Length: 41 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hbs:wpaper:09-003

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Related research
Keywords: Agglomeration; Innovation; Research and Development; Patents; Scientists; Engineers; Inventors; Ethnicity; Immigration.;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations
J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
O31 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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References listed on IDEAS
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    Other versions:
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    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Edward L. Glaeser & William R. Kerr, 2008. "Local Industrial Conditions and Entrepreneurship: How Much of the Spatial Distribution Can We Explain?," NBER Working Papers 14407, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. William R. Kerr, 2007. "The Ethnic Composition of US Inventors," Harvard Business School Working Papers 08-006, Harvard Business School. [Downloadable!]
  3. William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln, 2008. "The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and US Ethnic Invention," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-005, Harvard Business School. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-19.

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