Tracking the technological composition of industries with algorithmic patent concordances

ABSTRACT

Patents are a useful proxy for innovation, technological change, and diffusion. However, fully exploiting patent data for economic analyses requires linking patents to measures of economic activity, which has proven to be difficult. We construct probabilistic linkages between the U.S. Patent Classification (USPC) system and Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) system and industry and product classifications including the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS), International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), Harmonized System (HS) and Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). We use these concordances to evaluate the persistence of technology-industry relationships over time by generating linkages over different years of patent data. We find strong persistence in technology usage within industries and, until recently, relatively little change in the technology composition of industries over time. As the technology composition of industries becomes more stable, we find evidence of increased specialization. Finally, we show that industries that exhibit changing technology composition also show shifting occupational composition.     

High school student modeling in the engineering design process

A diverse group of 20 high school students from four states in the US were individually provided with an engineering design challenge. Students chosen were in capstone engineering courses and had taken multiple engineering courses. As students considered the problem and developed a solution, observational data were recorded and artifacts collected. Quantitative methods were used to identify how students allocated their time across different types of modeling. Qualitative methods were used to review data from three students who spent substantial time engaged in graphical and two kinds of mathematical modeling. These students were profiled and their patterns of modeling are represented visually and described in context. Much of the modeling done by these 20 students was graphical in nature. Few students informed their thinking with mathematical representations, yet predictive mathematical modeling is essential to engineering design. Implications for the classroom include encouraging students to transfer understanding of science and mathematics into technology and engineering contexts through modeling.     

The potato's contribution to population and urbanization: evidence from a historical experiment

We exploit regional variation in suitability for cultivating potatoes, together with time variation arising from their introduction to the Old World from the Americas, to estimate the impact of potatoes on Old World population and urbanization. Our results show that the introduction of the potato was responsible for a significant portion of the increase in population and urbanization observed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. According to our most conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato accounts for approximately one-quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900. Additional evidence from within-country comparisons of city populations and adult heights also confirms the cross-country findings.     

Sustainability to support end-to-end value chains: the role of supply chain management

Many firms are increasing their focus on sustainability. However, this focus has primarily emphasized environmentalism and ethics. Enterprise value chains must develop and support a broader sustainability perspective to ensure that its consumer, business, supply chain, community and environmental relationships and interactions remain viable. Using public documents and Internet sites of major global firms, this article suggests a framework to define the dimensions of sustainability and the categories of initiatives within each dimension. The article then offers examples regarding how major firms are implementing each sustainability dimension to enhance their competitiveness. Building on the framework, the article illustrates the sustainability initiatives applied by different categories of sustainability leaders.     

‘Conscience Capitalism’ and the Neoliberalisation of the Non-Profit Sector

This article analyses a range of initiatives, labelled as ‘conscience capitalist’, that have become prominent since the 2008 financial crash. Conscience capitalism encompasses projects emerging in both the for- and non-profit sectors that seek to connect neoliberal capitalism with concepts of morality and conscience. The article begins by unpacking conscience capitalism, showing how its for-profit advocates seek to transform capitalism by orienting it towards accounting for social and environmental externalities, and how its non-profit supporters seek to incorporate components of neoliberalism to serve their environmentally and/or socially focused agendas. Conscience capitalism appears to be a re-evaluation and call for reform of the prominent forms of neoliberalism. However, this article argues that, rather than comprising a hindrance, conscience capitalism offers a means of advancing the project. This is evident in its attempts to reconstitute social and environmental externalities in terms relatable to the market, and represent social and environmental problems in quantitative terms in which the success of market-based solutions can be read. Acknowledging some of the successes of conscience capitalist campaigns, the article concludes by arguing that this continued neoliberalisation of the non-profit sector favours campaigns consistent with neoliberalism and has the potential to undermine the democratic governance of non-profits.     

The valuation of patents using third-party data: the Ocean Tomo 300 Patent Index

This study is the first investigation of the ability of the financial marketplace to value patent assets via exploiting the informational content of a widely quoted stock market patent index known as the Ocean Tomo 300 Patent Index (OT 300). The results suggest that the OT 300 ‘works,’ in the sense that the index generates buy-and-hold returns economically and statistically in excess of those of the market as a whole as well as a specially created 300-firm benchmark portfolio composed of other very liquid patent-holding firms.     

Managing the narrative: Investor relations officers and corporate disclosure✰

Investor relations officers (IROs) play a central role in corporate communications with Wall Street. We survey 610 IROs at U.S. public companies and conduct 14 follow-up interviews to deepen our understanding of the role of IROs in corporate disclosure events. Three important themes emerge from our results: (i) the value, nature, and timing of private communication between IROs, analysts, and investors; (ii) the significant influence IROs have on corporate disclosures; and (iii) the degree of “theater” involved in public earnings conference calls, even the Q&A portion. We provide insights into the investor relations, analyst, institutional investor, and disclosure literatures.     

The impact of regulating mobile termination rates and MNO-MVNO relationships on retail prices

A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) provides mobile telecommunication services by eluding the constraints of the radio communication infrastructure and establishing an agreement with a hosting network operator (HNO) for the use of its spectrum. Thus, MVNOs offer a wide range of mobile services and directly compete with every mobile network operator (MNO). This paper studies the economic justifications for potential regulatory intervention that defines the level of mobile termination rates (MTRs) and negotiations and agreements among MVNOs and HNOs. The results show that symmetric MTR reduction leads to competition growth among operators, forcing every operator to reduce retail prices and, consequently, to enhancing consumer welfare. The paper also finds that a collaborative strategy adopted by an HNO and an MVNO is advantageous for both and induces a reduction in retail prices, thus weakening other MNOs.     

Exchange Rate Passthrough to Export Prices: Assessing Cross‐Country Evidence*

A growing empirical literature reports evidence of a decline in exchange rate passthrough to import prices in a number of industrial countries. Our paper complements this literature by examining passthrough from the other side of the transaction; that is, we assess the exchange rate sensitivity of export prices (denominated in the exporter's currency). We find that the prices charged on exports to the United States are more responsive to the exchange rate than are export prices to other destinations, which is consistent with results in the literature that import price passthrough in the US market is relatively low. In addition, the exchange rate sensitivity of export prices over time has been significantly affected by country‐ and region‐specific factors, including the Asian financial crisis (for emerging Asia), deepening integration with the United States (for Canada), and the effects of the 1992 ERM crisis (for the United Kingdom).