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Invention and the life course: Age differences in patenting

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  • Kaltenberg, Mary
  • Jaffe, Adam B.
  • Lachman, Margie E.

Abstract

Previous research suggests creative ability peaks at ages between the mid 30s and early 40s, but has not focused on the role of age-related changes in cognitive abilities in this pattern. Cognitive processes show aging-related increases in experience-based knowledge (pragmatics or crystallized abilities) and decreases in the ability to process novel information quickly and efficiently (mechanics or fluid abilities). We explore the role of these age-related changes in the invention process, using a new database created by combining the publicly available patent data with information on inventor ages scraped from directory websites for approximately 1.2 million U.S.-resident inventors patenting between 1976 and 2017. We have made these data publicly available on the Harvard Dataverse and full documentation can be found in Kaltenberg et al. (2021) In the current paper, we present some descriptive statistics, and explore changing patterns of invention as inventor's age. For solo inventors, backward citations and originality increase with age, consistent with their being connected to crystallized intelligence. Forward citations, number of claims, and generality measures, as well as a citation-based measure of disruptiveness decline with inventor age, consistent with a connection to fluid intelligence. A similar pattern was found for performance in teams based on the average age of inventors in the team. Exploration of age diversity showed that teams with a wider age range had patents that are slightly more important (i.e., with more forward citations). Merging of these new data with other data that capture diverse aspects of inventors' environment and incentives offers rich potential for new research on invention.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaltenberg, Mary & Jaffe, Adam B. & Lachman, Margie E., 2023. "Invention and the life course: Age differences in patenting," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:52:y:2023:i:1:s0048733322001500
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2022.104629
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    Cited by:

    1. Cristelli, Gabriele & Lissoni, Francesco, 2020. "Free movement of inventors: open-border policy and innovation in Switzerland," MPRA Paper 120099, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jan 2024.
    2. Yuyan Jiang & Xueli Liu, 2023. "A construction and empirical research of the journal disruption index based on open citation data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(7), pages 3935-3958, July.
    3. He, Chaocheng & Liu, Fuzhen & Dong, Ke & Wu, Jiang & Zhang, Qingpeng, 2023. "Research on the formation mechanism of research leadership relations: An exponential random graph model analysis approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    4. EFI - Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (ed.), 2023. "Report on research, innovation and technological performance in Germany 2023," Reports on Research, Innovation and Technological Performance in Germany, Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI) - Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation, Berlin, volume 127, number 2023e, January.
    5. Murmann, Martin & Salmivaara, Virva & Kibler, Ewald, 2023. "How does late-career entrepreneurship relate to innovation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    6. Gaia Dossi & Marta Morando, 2023. "Political ideology and innovation," CEP Discussion Papers dp1969, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    7. Macher, Jeffrey T. & Rutzer, Christian & Weder, Rolf, 2024. "Is there a secular decline in disruptive patents? Correcting for measurement bias," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    8. EFI - Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (ed.), 2023. "Gutachten zu Forschung, Innovation und technologischer Leistungsfähigkeit Deutschlands 2023," Reports on Research, Innovation and Technological Performance in Germany, Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI) - Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation, Berlin, volume 127, number 2023, January.
    9. Yihui Lan & Kenneth W. Clements & Zong Ken Chai, 2023. "How Productive Are Economics and Finance PhDs?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 56(4), pages 442-461, December.
    10. Jeffrey T. Macher & Christian Rutzer & Rolf Weder, 2023. "The Illusive Slump of Disruptive Patents," Papers 2306.10774, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inventors; Life course patenting activity; Cognitive aging;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination

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