IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/regstd/v49y2015i5p767-781.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Related Variety, Unrelated Variety and Technological Breakthroughs: An analysis of US State-Level Patenting

Author

Listed:
  • Carolina Castaldi
  • Koen Frenken
  • Bart Los

Abstract

Castaldi C., Frenken K. and Los B. Related variety, unrelated variety and technological breakthroughs: an analysis of US state-level patenting, Regional Studies . This paper investigates how variety affects the innovation output of a region. Borrowing arguments from theories of recombinant innovation, it is expected that related variety will enhance innovation as related technologies are more easily recombined into a new technology. However, it is also expected that unrelated variety enhances technological breakthroughs, since radical innovation often stems from connecting previously unrelated technologies opening up whole new functionalities and applications. Using patent data for US states in the period 1977-99 and associated citation data, evidence is found for both hypotheses. This study thus sheds a new and critical light on the related variety hypothesis in economic geography.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolina Castaldi & Koen Frenken & Bart Los, 2015. "Related Variety, Unrelated Variety and Technological Breakthroughs: An analysis of US State-Level Patenting," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(5), pages 767-781, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:49:y:2015:i:5:p:767-781
    DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2014.940305
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00343404.2014.940305
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00343404.2014.940305?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Manuel Trajtenberg, 1990. "A Penny for Your Quotes: Patent Citations and the Value of Innovations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 172-187, Spring.
    2. Koen Frenken & Ron A. Boschma, 2007. "A theoretical framework for evolutionary economic geography: industrial dynamics and urban growth as a branching process," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(5), pages 635-649, September.
    3. David J. Teece, 2008. "Firm organization, industrial structure, and technological innovation," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 11, pages 265-296, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Silverberg, Gerald & Verspagen, Bart, 2007. "The size distribution of innovations revisited: An application of extreme value statistics to citation and value measures of patent significance," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 139(2), pages 318-339, August.
    5. Thomas Lux, 2001. "The limiting extremal behaviour of speculative returns: an analysis of intra-daily data from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 299-315.
    6. A. Varga, 2006. "Spatial Knowledge Spillovers and University Research: Evidence from Austria," Springer Books, in: Innovation, Networks, and Knowledge Spillovers, chapter 10, pages 211-232, Springer.
    7. Ron Boschma & Simona Iammarino, 2009. "Related Variety, Trade Linkages, and Regional Growth in Italy," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 85(3), pages 289-311, July.
    8. Antonelli, Cristiano & Krafft, Jackie & Quatraro, Francesco, 2010. "Recombinant knowledge and growth: The case of ICTs," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 50-69, March.
    9. Koen Frenken & Luis R. Izquierdo & Paolo Zeppini, 2012. "Recombinant Innovation and Endogenous Transitions," Working Papers 12-01, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Jan 2012.
    10. Martin L. Weitzman, 1998. "Recombinant Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(2), pages 331-360.
    11. van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M., 2008. "Optimal diversity: Increasing returns versus recombinant innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(3-4), pages 565-580, December.
    12. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    13. Francesco Quatraro, 2011. "Knowledge Structure and Regional Economic Growth: The French case," Post-Print halshs-00727630, HAL.
    14. Ron A. Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2006. "Why is economic geography not an evolutionary science? Towards an evolutionary economic geography," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(3), pages 273-302, June.
    15. Drees, Holger & Kaufmann, Edgar, 1998. "Selecting the optimal sample fraction in univariate extreme value estimation," Stochastic Processes and their Applications, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 149-172, July.
    16. Bottazzi, Laura & Peri, Giovanni, 2003. "Innovation and spillovers in regions: Evidence from European patent data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 687-710, August.
    17. Brachert, Matthias & Kubis, Alexander & Titze, Mirko, 2011. "Related Variety, Unrelated Variety and Regional Functions: Identifying Sources of Regional Employment Growth in Germany from 2003 to 2008," IWH Discussion Papers 15/2011, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    18. Paul Almeida & Bruce Kogut, 1999. "Localization of Knowledge and the Mobility of Engineers in Regional Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(7), pages 905-917, July.
    19. Gautam Ahuja & Curba Morris Lampert, 2001. "Entrepreneurship in the large corporation: a longitudinal study of how established firms create breakthrough inventions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 521-543, June.
    20. Dosi, Giovanni, 1993. "Technological paradigms and technological trajectories : A suggested interpretation of the determinants and directions of technical change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 102-103, April.
    21. M. Hartog & R. Boschma & M. Sotarauta, 2012. "The Impact of Related Variety on Regional Employment Growth in Finland 1993--2006: High-Tech versus Medium/Low-Tech," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(6), pages 459-476, August.
    22. Frank Neffke & Martin Henning & Ron Boschma, 2011. "How Do Regions Diversify over Time? Industry Relatedness and the Development of New Growth Paths in Regions," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 87(3), pages 237-265, July.
    23. Olof Ejermo, 2009. "Regional Innovation Measured by Patent Data—Does Quality Matter?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 141-165.
    24. Arthur, W. Brian, 2007. "The structure of invention," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 274-287, March.
    25. Nicolas van Zeebroeck, 2011. "The puzzle of patent value indicators," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 33-62.
    26. Roberto Antonietti & Giulio Cainelli, 2011. "The role of spatial agglomeration in a structural model of innovation, productivity and export: a firm-level analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 577-600, June.
    27. Paul Bishop & Peter Gripaios, 2010. "Spatial Externalities, Relatedness and Sector Employment Growth in Great Britain," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 443-454.
    28. Bronwyn H. Hall, 2005. "A Note on the Bias in Herfindahl-Type Measures Based on Count Data," Revue d'Économie Industrielle, Programme National Persée, vol. 110(1), pages 149-156.
    29. Philip McCann & Raquel Ortega-Argilés, 2013. "Transforming European regional policy: a results-driven agenda and smart specialization," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 29(2), pages 405-431, SUMMER.
    30. Pierre Desrochers & Samuli Leppälä, 2011. "Opening up the 'Jacobs Spillovers' black box: local diversity, creativity and the processes underlying new combinations," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(5), pages 843-863, September.
    31. Jasjit Singh & Lee Fleming, 2010. "Lone Inventors as Sources of Breakthroughs: Myth or Reality?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(1), pages 41-56, January.
    32. Lee Fleming, 2001. "Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(1), pages 117-132, January.
    33. F. M. Scherer & Dietmar Harhoff & J, rg Kukies, 2000. "Uncertainty and the size distribution of rewards from innovation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 175-200.
    34. Quatraro, Francesco, 2010. "Knowledge coherence, variety and economic growth: Manufacturing evidence from Italian regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1289-1302, December.
    35. Markus Becker & Thorbjørn Knudsen & Richard Swedberg, 2012. "Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development: 100 years of development," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 917-933, November.
    36. Horst Hanusch & Andreas Pyka (ed.), 2007. "Elgar Companion to Neo-Schumpeterian Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2973.
    37. Peter Thompson, 2006. "Patent Citations and the Geography of Knowledge Spillovers: Evidence from Inventor- and Examiner-added Citations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(2), pages 383-388, May.
    38. Simona Iammarino, 2005. "An evolutionary integrated view of Regional Systems of Innovation: Concepts, measures and historical perspectives," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 497-519, June.
    39. Olof Ejermo, 2005. "Technological Diversity and Jacobs’ Externality Hypothesis Revisited," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 167-195, June.
    40. Koen Frenken (ed.), 2007. "Applied Evolutionary Economics and Economic Geography," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 4172.
    41. Koen Frenken & Frank Van Oort & Thijs Verburg, 2007. "Related Variety, Unrelated Variety and Regional Economic Growth," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 685-697.
    42. Nightingale, Paul, 1998. "A cognitive model of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 689-709, November.
    43. Francesco Quatraro, 2009. "Knowledge Coherence, Variety and Productivity Growth: Manufacturing Evidence from Italian Regions," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 0902, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Feb 2009.
    44. Francesca Mameli & Simona Iammarino & Ron Boschma, 2012. "Regional variety and employment growth in Italian labour market areas: services versus manufacturing industries," Working Papers 4, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Mar 2012.
    45. Ron Boschma & Asier Minondo & Mikel Navarro, 2012. "Related variety and regional growth in Spain," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(2), pages 241-256, June.
    46. Stefano Breschi & Francesco Lissoni, 2009. "Mobility of skilled workers and co-invention networks: an anatomy of localized knowledge flows," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(4), pages 439-468, July.
    47. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    48. Pier Saviotti & Koen Frenken, 2008. "Export variety and the economic performance of countries," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 201-218, April.
    49. Stuart, Toby & Sorenson, Olav, 2003. "The geography of opportunity: spatial heterogeneity in founding rates and the performance of biotechnology firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 229-253, February.
    50. David L. Rigby & Jürgen Essletzbichler, 2006. "Technological variety, technological change and a geography of production techniques," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(1), pages 45-70, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Apa, Roberta & De Noni, Ivan & Orsi, Luigi & Sedita, Silvia Rita, 2018. "Knowledge space oddity: How to increase the intensity and relevance of the technological progress of European regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1700-1712.
    2. Elekes, Zoltán, 2016. "A regionális növekedés új tényezői az evolúciós gazdaságföldrajzi kutatásokban. A változatosság és a technológiai közelség [The new factors of regional growth in research into evolutionary economic," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(3), pages 307-329.
    3. Ron Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2011. "The emerging empirics of evolutionary economic geography," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 295-307, March.
    4. Sofia Wixe & Martin Andersson, 2017. "Which types of relatedness matter in regional growth? Industry, occupation and education," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 523-536, April.
    5. Ron Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2015. "Evolutionary Economic Geography," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1518, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised May 2015.
    6. Nicola Cortinovis & Frank Oort, 2015. "Variety, economic growth and knowledge intensity of European regions: a spatial panel analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 55(1), pages 7-32, October.
    7. Zoltán Elekes & Balázs Lengyel, 2016. "Related trade linkages, foreign firms, and employment growth in less developed regions," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1620, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2016.
    8. repec:elg:eechap:14395_12 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Jeroen Content & Koen Frenken, 2016. "Related variety and economic development: a literature review," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(12), pages 2097-2112, December.
    10. Frank Van Oort, 2013. "Agglomeration Economics Beyond the Specialisation-Diversity Controversy," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1313, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2013.
    11. Niccolò Innocenti & Francesco Capone & Luciana Lazzeretti & Sergio Petralia, 2022. "The role of inventors’ networks and variety for breakthrough inventions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(1), pages 37-57, February.
    12. Sandro Montresor & Gianluca Orsatti & Francesco Quatraro, 2023. "Technological novelty and key enabling technologies: evidence from European regions," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 851-872, August.
    13. Silvia Rita Sedita & Ivan De Noni & Roberta Apa & Luigi Orsi, 2016. "Measuring how the knowledge space shapes the technological progress of European regions," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1624, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2016.
    14. Kolja Hesse & Dirk Fornahl, 2020. "Essential ingredients for radical innovations? The role of (un‐)related variety and external linkages in Germany," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(5), pages 1165-1183, October.
    15. Francesco Quatraro, 2016. "Co-evolutionary Patterns in Regional Knowledge Bases and Economic Structure: Evidence from European Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 513-539, March.
    16. Ernest Miguélez & Rosina Moreno, 2016. "“Relatedness, external linkages and innovation”," IREA Working Papers 201603, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Apr 2016.
    17. Quatraro Francesco, 2011. "Knowledge Structure and Regional Economic Growth: The French case," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201112, University of Turin.
    18. Michael Fritsch & Sandra Kublina, 2018. "Related variety, unrelated variety and regional growth: the role of absorptive capacity and entrepreneurship," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(10), pages 1360-1371, October.
    19. Jürgen Essletzbichler, 2013. "Relatedness, industrial branching and technological cohesion in U.S. metropolitan areas," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1307, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised May 2013.
    20. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Wissensintensive Unternehmensdienste, Wissens-Spillovers und regionales Wachstum. Teilprojekt 1: Wissens-Spillovers und regionale Entwicklung – Welche strukturpolitische Ausrichtung optimiert das Wach," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 58342.
    21. Silvia Rita Sedita & Ivan De Noni & Luciano Pilotti, 2014. "How do related variety and differentiated knowledge bases influence the resilience of local production systems?," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0180, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".

    More about this item

    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
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:49:y:2015:i:5:p:767-781. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CRES20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.