The population ecology of technology

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Ad van den Oord, Tilburg University (Netherlands); Arjen van Witteloostuijn, Tilburg University (Netherlands)

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
20161202.dta application/x-stata 3.5 MB 12/02/2016 12:17:AM

Project Citation: 

van den Oord, Ad, and van Witteloostuijn, Arjen. The population ecology of technology. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2016-12-02. https://doi.org/10.3886/E100363V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary A detailed understanding of technological change as an evolutionary process is currently not well understood. To increase our understanding, we build upon theory from organizational ecology to develop a model of endogenous technological growth and determine to what extent the pattern of technological growth can be attributed to the structural or systemic characteristics of the technology itself. Through an empirical investigation of patent data in the biotechnology industry from 1976 to 2003, we find that a technology’s internal (i.e., density and diversity) ecological characteristics have a positive effect on its growth rate. The niche’s external characteristics of crowding and status have a negative effect on its growth rate.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms patents; biotechnology; diversity; technological growth; organizational ecology; patents; density dependence
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage USA
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1/1/1967 – 12/31/2003
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 1/1/2007 – 12/31/2007
Universe:  View help for Universe USPTO patents
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data

Methodology

Data Source:  View help for Data Source United States Patent and Trademark Office
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation Patent subclasses

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Published Versions

V1 [2016-12-02]

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