IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wip/wpaper/56.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Measuring Innovation in the Mining Industry with Patents

Author

Listed:
  • Alica Daly
  • Giulia Valacchi
  • Julio Raffo

Abstract

Traditionally, the mining sector has been considered a slow innovator compared to other industries, like the manufacturing or pharmaceutical industries. However, we observe an upsurge in the innovation activity of the mining industry in the first half of the 2000s. During this period, mining innovation started to increase rapidly after periods of stagnation and downward trends. To conduct and in-depth investigation of the global trends and patterns behind this structural change in mining innovation, we formulated a general search strategy to identify patent activity in this sector. The strategy is repeatable over time and in multiple databases. It enabled us to produce a dataset of patents in mining and mining-related technologies. Using this newly-created database we identified at the basis of the structural change a switch away from refining technologies into exploration and environmental technologies probably explained by the took over of the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution. The types of actors active in the mining innovation also changed across time: there are now many more individuals, research centers and universities innovating in mining and relatively less companies. Finally, the country composition in the pool of mining innovation activity has radically changed with the appearance of China on the global scene starting from early 2000.

Suggested Citation

  • Alica Daly & Giulia Valacchi & Julio Raffo, 2019. "Measuring Innovation in the Mining Industry with Patents," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 56, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    • Handle: RePEc:wip:wpaper:56
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_econstat_wp_56.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ernest Miguelez & Carsten Fink, 2013. "Measuring the International Mobility of Inventors: A New Database," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 08, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division, revised May 2013.
    2. Lybbert, Travis J. & Zolas, Nikolas J., 2014. "Getting patents and economic data to speak to each other: An ‘Algorithmic Links with Probabilities’ approach for joint analyses of patenting and economic activity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 530-542.
    3. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gril98-1.
    4. Pavitt, Keith, 1984. "Sectoral patterns of technical change: Towards a taxonomy and a theory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 343-373, December.
    5. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Yann Ménière & Myra Mohnen, 2017. "International patent families: from application strategies to statistical indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(2), pages 793-828, May.
    6. Zoltan J. Acs & Luc Anselin & Attila Varga, 2008. "Patents and Innovation Counts as Measures of Regional Production of New Knowledge," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 11, pages 135-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Nada Wasi & Aaron Flaaen, 2015. "Record linkage using Stata: Preprocessing, linking, and reviewing utilities," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 15(3), pages 672-697, September.
    8. repec:wip:wpaper:8 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Frederic Scherer, 1984. "Using Linked Patent and R&D Data to Measure Interindustry Technology Flows," NBER Chapters, in: R&D, Patents, and Productivity, pages 417-464, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Bartos, Paul J., 2007. "Is mining a high-tech industry: Investigations into innovation and productivity advance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 149-158, December.
    11. Josh Lerner & Amit Seru, 2017. "The Use and Misuse of Patent Data: Issues for Corporate Finance and Beyond," NBER Working Papers 24053, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Catalina Martínez, 2011. "Patent families: When do different definitions really matter?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 86(1), pages 39-63, January.
    13. Mila Kashcheeva & Sacha Wunsch-Vincent & Hao Zhou, 2014. "International Patenting Strategies of Chinese Residents: an analysis of foreign-oriented patent families," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 20, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    14. Arundel, Anthony & Kabla, Isabelle, 1998. "What percentage of innovations are patented? empirical estimates for European firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 127-141, June.
    15. Griliches, Zvi, 1998. "R&D and Productivity," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226308869.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alessandri, Enrico, 2021. "Identifying technological trajectories in the mining sector using patent citation networks," MERIT Working Papers 2021-048, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

    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. Giulia Valacchi & Julio Raffo & Alica Daly & David Humphreys, 2019. "Innovation in the Mining Sector and Cycles in Commodity Prices," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 55, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    2. Stephan, Annegret & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Bening, Catharina R. & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2017. "The sectoral configuration of technological innovation systems: Patterns of knowledge development and diffusion in the lithium-ion battery technology in Japan," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 709-723.
    3. Valacchi, Giulia & Doytch, Nadia & Yonzan, Nishant, 2021. "Impact of outward foreign direct investments on patent activity of Greenfield multinationals," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    4. Pieter E. Stek, 2021. "Identifying spatial technology clusters from patenting concentrations using heat map kernel density estimation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 911-930, February.
    5. Claudia Ghisetti & Francesco Quatraro, 2014. "Is green knowledge improving environmental productivity? Sectoral Evidence from Italian Regions," SEEDS Working Papers 1014, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised May 2014.
    6. Travis J. Lybbert & Mingzhi Xu, 2022. "Innovation‐adjusted economic complexity and growth: Do patent flows reveal enhanced economic capabilities?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 442-483, February.
    7. Ghisetti, Claudia & Quatraro, Francesco, 2017. "Green Technologies and Environmental Productivity: A Cross-sectoral Analysis of Direct and Indirect Effects in Italian Regions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1-13.
    8. Stek, Pieter E. & van Geenhuizen, Marina S., 2016. "The influence of international research interaction on national innovation performance: A bibliometric approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 61-70.
    9. Hoenen, Sebastian & Kolympiris, Christos & Schoenmakers, Wilfred & Kalaitzandonakes, Nicholas, 2014. "The diminishing signaling value of patents between early rounds of venture capital financing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 956-989.
    10. Stephan, Annegret & Bening, Catharina R. & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Schwarz, Marius & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2019. "The role of inter-sectoral knowledge spillovers in technological innovations: The case of lithium-ion batteries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    11. Henrik Basche, 2022. "Determinants of cross-border co-patents: empirical evidence from 45 European regions [Determinanten grenzüberschreitender Ko-Patentaktivitäten: Empirische Befunde aus 45 europäischen Regionen]," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, April.
    12. Cassiman, Bruno & Perez-Castrillo, David & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2002. "Endogenizing know-how flows through the nature of R&D investments," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 775-799, June.
    13. Alessandri, Enrico, 2023. "Identifying technological trajectories in the mining sector using patent citation networks," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Hötte, Kerstin, 2023. "Demand-pull, technology-push, and the direction of technological change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    15. Hala Abou-Ali & Mohammed Belhaj, 2008. "Cost Benefit Analysis of Desert Locusts Control: A Multicountry Perspective," Working Papers 801, Economic Research Forum, revised 01 Jan 2008.
    16. Enrico Moretti, 2019. "The Effect of High-Tech Clusters on the Productivity of Top Inventors," NBER Working Papers 26270, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Montresor, Sandro & Vezzani, Antonio, 2015. "The production function of top R&D investors: Accounting for size and sector heterogeneity with quantile estimations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 381-393.
    18. Claire Brunel & Thomas Zylkin, 2022. "Do cross‐border patents promote trade?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(1), pages 379-418, February.
    19. Dhanora, Madan & Sharma, Ruchi & Khachoo, Qayoom, 2018. "Non-linear impact of product and process innovations on market power: A theoretical and empirical investigation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 67-77.
    20. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & John Van Reenen, 2001. "Measuring the cost-effectiveness of an R&D tax credit for the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 375-399, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intellectual property; patents; patent data; mining; innovation; mining services; METS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • L71 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Mining, Extraction, and Refining: Hydrocarbon Fuels
    • L72 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Mining, Extraction, and Refining: Other Nonrenewable Resources
    • L64 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Other Machinery; Business Equipment; Armaments

    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:wip:wpaper:56. 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: Economics and Statistics Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ewipoch.html .

    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.