• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.83-113
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• 2017

This paper constructs panel data of inventors listed on patents applied for the KIPO during 1991-2005 and analyzes the effects of network characteristics on inventor productivity. The findings are as follows: ⅰ) Strong ties within a network have positive effects on inventor productivity. ⅱ) An inventor with high centrality shows high producitivity. ⅲ) Technological diversity of a network enhances inventor productivity. ⅳ) An inventor belonging to a network of good quality shows higher productivity. ⅴ) Network size is positively related with inventor producitvity. ⅵ) A lone inventor shows the highest productivity among types of inventors, and a co-inventor with the experience of standalone invention is more productive compared to an inventor with only the experience of co-invention. ⅶ) The productivity effects of network variables differ across regions. ⅷ) Differences among regions do not decrease though geographical boundaries become less important.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.161-186
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• 2018

Albeit numerous endeavors in matching names and surveying inventors, inventor-level studies of patent data have been scarce because unique inventors can not be identified across patents. Using the Korean patent data with inventor IDs, birth year, and gender available, we construct unique inventor-level panel data. As the first undertaking with our data, we investigate the age profile of patent productivity among inventors. We find an inverted U-shaped profile with the peak at age 31. We also find an increasing productivity for younger cohorts of inventors. These findings are robust after we control for the calendar year effects and the quality of patents.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2016

This paper attempts to explore the spatial structure of inventor networks and their determinants among 230 shi-gun-gu regions in Korea by investigating the residence of co-inventors engaged in Korean patent applications to the Korean Intellectual Office and exploiting a zero inflated negative binomial model to accommodate an estimation to the count nature of a dependent variable and its excess of zeros. Several variables are found to affect the spatial linkage of inventor networks. Spatial links extend beyond the region if it has more own R&D-related specific assets (private R&D, patent productivity, population, education); if it is physically close to and has technological similarity with the other region. The assets of the other region plays a positive role if, in a similar way, the other region has more R&D-related specific assets.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 2011

Technical change and technological innovation have become major drivers of economic progress in the knowledge oriented economies where growth, productivity, and competitiveness are increasingly based on improved technologies, novel products, upgraded processes or customized services. The creation of new knowledge, modifying or improving existent knowledge, or imitation of others, has become central to economic development. New discoveries, state-of-the-art information gathering procedures, or successful problem solving routines are often at he core of these innovations. Despite the generally acknowledged importance of science in many high-tech areas of major economic relevance, there is few science-related statistics to be found in high-profile international benchmarking reports. This paper aims to provide an answer by advancing our understanding of the possibilities of indicators quantifying linkages between science and technology. Central are the concepts of innovation capability and science/technology interface, which are used to assemble a wide range of empirical studies and quantitative indicators to summarize their possibilities and limitations for producing comparative statistics. For the purpose of the study, we extracted the US patents by Korean assignees or inventors, scientific papers cited in the patents in order to analyze the characteristics of linkage of scientific knowledge flows. The review focuses on indicators dealing with flows of written or codified information, and indicators of inventiveness that capture the non-codifiable tacit knowledge dimension. General conclusions will be drawn with a view towards further developments in the foreseeable future, suggesting new avenues for the design and implementation of patent-based and inventor-based relationships between scientific research and technical development within the context of regional or national systems of innovation.