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Nanotechnology and the Emergence of a General Purpose Technology

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  • Stuart J. H. Graham
  • Maurizio Iacopetta

Abstract

This article examines how closely nanotechnology resembles a general purpose technology (GPT). Using patented nanotechnology inventions during 1975-2006, we test for characteristics of GPTs identified in the prior literature, and find evidence that nanotechnology shows both "pervasive" adoption and "spawning" of follow-on innovation. Offering a methodological contribution, we employ concentration indexes such as the Gini index and Lorenz curve to construct "knowledge dissemination curves" for different technologies, thereby providing evidence that nanotechnology shares relevant characteristics with other GPTs. Using an entirely new dataset, we use three different definitions of a "nanotechnology patent" and calculate patent generality indexes, finding that nanotechnology patents are significantly more likely to be referenced across technology space than are patents in information technology, another widelyadopted GPT. In another contribution, we suggest that innovative materials may demonstrate the characteristics of a GPT, and provide a historical parallel between the advancement of steel technology in the 19th Century with that of nanotechnology in the present day.

Suggested Citation

  • Stuart J. H. Graham & Maurizio Iacopetta, 2014. "Nanotechnology and the Emergence of a General Purpose Technology," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 115-116, pages 25-55.
    • Handle: RePEc:adr:anecst:y:2014:i:115-116:p:25-55
    DOI: 10.15609/annaeconstat2009.115-116.25
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    Cited by:

    1. Ekaterina Prytkova, 2021. "ICT's Wide Web: a System-Level Analysis of ICT's Industrial Diffusion with Algorithmic Links," Jena Economics Research Papers 2021-005, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    2. Iritié, B. G. Jean Jacques, 2017. "Innovation clusters effects on adoption of a general purpose technology under uncertainty," EconStor Preprints 180668, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    3. Clifford Bekar & Kenneth Carlaw & Richard Lipsey, 2018. "General purpose technologies in theory, application and controversy: a review," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(5), pages 1005-1033, December.
    4. Philip Shapira & Jan Youtie, 2008. "Emergence of Nanodistricts in the United States," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 22(3), pages 187-199, August.
    5. Kreuchauff, Florian & Teichert, Nina, 2014. "Nanotechnology as general purpose technology," Working Paper Series in Economics 53, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    6. Simone Vannuccini & Ekaterina Prytkova, 2021. "Artificial Intelligence’s New Clothes? From General Purpose Technology to Large Technical System," SPRU Working Paper Series 2021-02, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.

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