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Winner Takes All? Tech Clusters, Population Centers, and the Spatial Transformation of U.S. Invention

Author

Listed:
  • Brad Chattergoon
  • William R. Kerr

Abstract

U.S. invention has become increasingly concentrated around major tech centers since the 1970s, with implications for how much cities across the country share in concomitant local benefits. Is invention becoming a winner-takes-all race? We explore the rising spatial concentration of patents and identify an underlying stability in their distribution. Software patents have exploded to account for about half of patents today, and these patents are highly concentrated in tech centers. Tech centers also account for a growing share of non-software patents, but the reallocation, by contrast, is entirely from the five largest population centers in 1980. Non-software patenting is stable for most cities, with anchor tenants like universities playing important roles, suggesting the growing concentration of invention may be nearing its end. Immigrant inventors and new businesses aided in the spatial transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Brad Chattergoon & William R. Kerr, 2021. "Winner Takes All? Tech Clusters, Population Centers, and the Spatial Transformation of U.S. Invention," NBER Working Papers 29456, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29456
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    2. Cui, Wenyue, 2025. "Shadow and spillover: The influence of neighboring innovative cities on regional innovation growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Pardy, Martina, 2025. "Multinationals and intra-regional innovation concentration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(6).
    4. Moritz Goldbeck, 2022. "Bit by Bit - Colocation and the Death of Distance in Software Developer Networks," ifo Working Paper Series 386, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    5. Zerun Jin & Zitian Cui & Shengjun Zhu & Liyan Xu, 2024. "Face-to-face contact and university–industry collaboration: evidence from mobile signaling data in Beijing," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1255-1276, April.
    6. Matthias Niggli & Christian Rutzer, 2023. "Digital technologies, technological improvement rates, and innovations “Made in Switzerland”," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 159(1), pages 1-31, December.
    7. Qiao Guangshun, 2023. "Survival of the Fittest: The Long-run Productivity Analysis of the Listed Information Technology Companies in the US Stock Market," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-11, January.
    8. Matthias Niggli, 2023. "‘Moving On’—investigating inventors’ ethnic origins using supervised learning," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(4), pages 921-947.
    9. Wang, Zhe & Jiang, Dianchun & Zhang, Ming, 2024. "Seeking new location advantages: Analysis of emerging digital cross-border M&As—Based on TIMG index," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    10. Akcigit, Ufuk & Ates, Sina T. & Lerner, Josh & Townsend, Richard R. & Zhestkova, Yulia, 2024. "Fencing off Silicon Valley: Cross-border venture capital and technology spillovers," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 14-39.
    11. Weik, Stefan & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin & Braun, Reiner, 2024. "Venture capital and the international relocation of startups," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(7).
    12. Ufuk Akcigit & Nathan Goldschlag, 2025. "Measuring the characteristics and employment dynamics of U.S. inventors," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 237-269, June.
    13. Yuhang Wang & Lei Pei & Jianjun Sun & Lele Kang, 2025. "Trace on both sides: a two-step text mining method to identify academic inventors’ patent–paper pairs," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 130(2), pages 833-860, February.
    14. Matthias Niggli, 2023. "‘Moving On’—investigating inventors’ ethnic origins using supervised learning," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 921-947.
    15. Wachs, Johannes & Nitecki, Mariusz & Schueller, William & Polleres, Axel, 2022. "The Geography of Open Source Software: Evidence from GitHub," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    16. Leonardo Mazzoni & Massimo Riccaboni & Erik Stam, 2024. "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Interregional Flows of Entrepreneurial Talent," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2426, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2024.
    17. Dai, Xin & Tang, Jie & Yin, Deyun, 2025. "Science and city: Exploring science's contribution to China's urban technological innovation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    18. Yantai Chen & Jing Li & Jingwen Zhang, 2024. "Digitalisation, data-driven dynamic capabilities and responsible innovation: An empirical study of SMEs in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 1211-1251, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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